Next summer's cruise ships could be closer to pre-pandemic numbers

After no cruise ship visitors in 2020 and this year's pandemic-anemic numbers in the hundreds, Wrangell next year could see ships with berths for close to 20,000 passengers pull into town.

In 2019, 21,540 passengers visited Wrangell, according to data compiled by Rain Coast Data for the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau.

Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska has released its 2022 calendar for the vessels it represents, mostly larger vessels sailing under a foreign flag. The passenger capacity of the vessels on that calendar scheduled for stops in Wrangell next summer totals almost 15,500.

That number doesn't include smaller operators such as Alaska Dream Cruises out of Sitka, and Seattle-based UnCruise Adventures, both of which run vessels that can accommodate fewer than 75 passengers each but which make multiple stops in town.

The list also does not include Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic Expeditions, which has Wrangell on its 2022 itinerary with the Sea Bird, also with fewer than 75 berths.

The bigger ships handled by Cruise Line Agencies include the 684-passenger Regatta, scheduled for one stop in Wrangell; the 450-passenger Odyssey, listed for eight stops in town; the 312-passenger Sea Breeze, with multiple stops; and the 294-passenger Silver Wind, scheduled for a September stop on a cruise from Nome to Vancouver, British Columbia.

With the exception of the Regatta and the 230-passenger Hanseatic Inspiration, every vessel on the Cruise Line Agencies' calendar would be new to Wrangell next year.

Among those is a 2019-built electric hybrid, 528-berth capacity Roald Amundsen, from Hurtigruten Expeditions in Norway, scheduled for several calls to Wrangell.

While Wrangell does not receive the number and size of cruise ships that call on Ketchikan, Juneau or Skagway - some as large as 4,000 berths - the ships that come to town are critically important to charter businesses and retailers, said Carol Rushmore, Wrangell's economic development director and tourism coordinator. Passengers wander around town, spending money at the shops and on the charter tours.

And, she said, more ships may come in future years.

"I think the trend in the coming years will increase," Rushmore said. "There are new ships and bigger ships coming online. They will need smaller ports to go to, so they are looking for alternative sites."

The industry has told Southeast officials that 2022 could be a record year, with ships offering close to 1.5 million berths April into October.

Rushmore said Wrangell could be on the itineraries in future years, and has begun a conversation with Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska about the infrastructure accommodations Wrangell would need to make. "It could be challenging with the tides, the gangway, different things like that," she said.

Fred Angerman is Cruise Line Agencies' port manager in Wrangell. He takes care of the ships' needs when they come in, acting as a go-between between U.S. Customs and the ships, most of which are foreign-flagged vessels.

"Very seldom do we have a U.S.-flag operated vessel," Angerman said. "Customs needs a middle man; we take care of them."

The crew may need arrangements to get groceries, take a passenger to the hospital, or Angerman said, he may have to pick up a crew member flying in. "Sometimes not much happens, sometimes it's more than I can deal with."

Angerman said he has about 48 cruise ship stops on his calendar for 2022. Assuming, he said, that Wrangell goes back to normal.

"We all know what happened in 2020 – we had zero stops. And in 2021, we had one vessel stop three times," he said.

Angerman said he has to operate under the assumption that the 2022 schedule will go through, but it is always subject to change – even during pre-pandemic years. "We just don't know sometimes."

Angerman, who has been the local liaison for about 17 years, following in his late father's footsteps, said around March or April is when he'll get ramped up and begin meetings with longshoremen, and the port and harbor department.

He hasn't seen a schedule for 2023 yet, but there could be substantially more vessels. "There are a lot of cruise companies that don't want to give up their Alaska market."

And while some ships offer budget- or moderate-priced voyages to Alaska, others are at the higher end of the market. UnCruise Adventures is advertising seven-day and 14-day cruises between Juneau and Ketchikan, starting at $4,495 and $8,545, respectively. Wrangell is a stop on both voyages, with dates May through August.

Alaska Dream Cruises has Wrangell as a stop in May and July from Sitka to Ketchikan, ranging from $5,195 for a nine-day voyage to $8,450 for an eight-day "coastal discoveries and culture" tour.

National Geographic Expeditions offers Wrangell as a stop on its six-day, $4,660 "Wild Alaska Escape: A Voyage from Juneau to Ketchikan," with dates from May to August.