Cruise West to cut
21 dockings in 2010

By Tom Morphet

Cruise West will reduce port stops in Haines by its small ships to 16 next summer, a company official said this week. That’s down from 37 dockings this year and more than 70 last year. The ships make a four-hour stop here.

           Jerrol Golden, company director of public relations, said the reduction is a response to customer demand for more wilderness excursions, as well as economic factors as bookings drop industry-wide.

“We’re not alone in changing our itineraries in the next year. People are spending less. Total sailings will be reduced,” Golden said.

Of the four Cruise West ships currently docking in Haines, only the 84-passenger Spirit of Discovery will come next year on a four-night “Glacier Bay Highlights” cruise from Juneau.

The Spirit of ’98, a picturesque Cruise West ship once a fixture here, was shifted to a route on the Columbia and Snake rivers this season after an opportunity opened there.

The company will expand offerings such as Zodiac excursions off its ships, Golden said. “Our customers are really participatory. They don’t want to go to Alaska to go shopping. They want to be out there with binoculars, seeing wildlife and wilderness.”

The change will impact Haines tour operator Joe Ordonez, whose Fort Seward walking tour is included in Cruise West stops here. Ordonez has previously employed as many as a 12 guides, some as many as 20 hours per week.

“The bulk of my business is ships that pull into Haines, so it’s probably a bigger effect for me than for other companies,” Ordonez said . “With Cruise West dockings dropping 75 percent and Holland America dockings dropping 30 percent, Haines business isn’t enough to sustain the company at its present levels.”

Ordonez said he created other, independent tours in recent years to create a safety net for his company. This year he also started bringing clients over from ships docking in Skagway. “Traditionally, I’ve tried to add new things so as some fall off, I have others to fall back on.”

But because of multiple dockings on some nights next year, he will need as many guides as this year, but won’t be able to offer them as many hours.

Jetboat tour operator Karen Hess also will lose Cruise West business. “Everybody’s going to be affected,” Hess said.

Hess sees the change as a reshuffling of itineraries by Cruise West to better fill its ships and customize its cruises. “I think they’re trying to maximize their loads better. Last year they weren’t full on a lot of their sailings… I don’t think it has anything to do with cutting back communities for any specific reason. Plus, they’re doing more exploration cruising.”

 Smaller cruise ships are easier to move around, and Hess said she’s optimistic Cruise West will return. Chuck West, the company’s late founder, was bullish on Haines and maintained a cabin here. “I believe once the economy gets better, we’ll see them back up here with more ships,” Hess said.