Tagged: Portland (Maine)

The Conway Scenic Railroad’s North Conway station, headquarters for the nearly 50-year-old tourist railroad, is more than an hour inland from the coast. (more…)

Tourism advocates say cruise ship operations in Portland bring business to the waterfront, but acknowledge that some residents have raised concerns about traffic jams and pedestrian safety when tour vessels are in town. (more…)

Summer may be winding down but that doesn’t mean tourism season is stepping off the gas. Groups are coming together this fall to try to manage cruise ship congestion in Portland and surrounding communities. (more…)

Two cruise ships docked in Portland on Tuesday and a third is expected on Wednesday. Passengers will pour into the city, bringing foot traffic similar to a July weekend. (more…)

Cruise ships are either changing course to avoid the Maine coast or heading to Portland to seek shelter from a powerful nor’easter that was forecast to arrive Wednesday night. The storm will impact thousands of passengers and crew members, according to figures provided by the city of Portland. (pressherald.com)

Monday marked the start of fall in Maine, despite the warm temperatures. Tourism experts say fall is the season with the highest traffic of tourists. “The fall period, for the number of ships coming in here, really is a nice little bump for the restaurants during the weekdays especially,” Greg Gordon of Destinations North America said. Gordon helps coordinate the interactions between local businesses and the cruise lines to plan activities and transportation. (wgme.com)

Statewide, Maine’s 12 cruise ship ports are expected to welcome 430 ships with almost 467,000 passengers and 193,000 crew. More than half of those passengers will land in Bar Harbor, long the most popular cruise ship destination in the state. (pressherald.com)

Portland welcomed the first major cruise ship of the 2019 season Thursday. The Norwegian Dawn brought 2,224 passengers and 1,000 crew members into port. Two other large ships expected this month – Grandeur of the Seas on Sunday and the Norwegian Dawn again on May 23 – are among the 100 cruise ships expected to call on Portland this season. (pressherald.com)

Maine’s 2019 cruise ship season has begun with Bar Harbor getting its third ship visit Friday and Portland scheduled to get its first visit of the year Saturday. (bangordailynews.com)

A Portland man wants the city to seriously consider his idea for converting a cruise ship into a floating shelter for homeless people. Kenneth A. Capron, founding director of the nonprofit MemoryWorks, has invited potential stakeholders to a meeting on Tuesday afternoon at Portland City Hall to discuss his vision for acquiring a used cruise ship that could serve as a homeless shelter, as well as affordable housing and immigrant housing. (pressherald.com)

A close look at a 2009 study shows passenger spending in Portland was overestimated by at least half, providing a flawed basis for decisions by Maine ports on accommodating the rising number of visits. (pressherald.com)

The number of cruise ship passengers sailing into Portland is on track to nearly double from three years ago, according to projections for the 2018 season. (pressherald.com)

Cruise ships anchor in Rockland harbor far less often than they do in Portland, Bar Harbor or even Boothbay Harbor. But as the sight of huge passenger ships becomes more common in a harbor accustomed to much smaller fishing vessels, city leaders are grappling to cope with the impacts. (bangordailynews.com)

Maine is on track to have a record number of cruise ships and passengers sail into ports this year, and Portland officials are considering an expansion of the cruise terminal to grow traffic further. (pressherald.com)

“All our fees are covered by the head tax ($10), for all ships with 1,000 or more passengers. We don’t charge for security or berthing, all of that is included. The ship itself is not paying anything,” said Bob Leeman, marketing manager for Cruise Portland (Maine). In addition are further incentives for ships calling earlier in the season, he explained. (cruiseindustrynews.com)

Maine’s 2015 cruise ship season came to an end this week as the Seven Seas Navigator made the final port stop in the state, helping set a record for annual cruise ship visits for the largest city in Maine. (bangordailynews.com)

Portland, Maine hosted its largest cruise ship of 2015 this past weekend when Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas docked at Ocean Gateway along the city’s waterfront on Saturday. (travelpulse.com)