By ARIADNE WILL and
SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writers
When the Royal Caribbean Line’s Serenade of the Seas tied up at Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal Wednesday morning, it was met by a handful of Sitkans welcoming the first large cruise ship to visit Sitka in nearly two years.
And the ship wasn’t just Sitka’s first big ship since 2019 — Serenade of the Seas was the first large cruise ship with paying guests to dock in Alaska since the start of the pandemic.
The ship was sailing with only a fourth of its 2,490-passenger capacity, and Sitka was its first stop. All eligible passengers and crew were vaccinated, Royal Caribbean representatives told the Sentinel at the cruise terminal.
As passengers started coming ashore at 9:30 a.m. they were greeted by an applauding welcoming committee that included Rachel Roy, executive director of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce and Visit Sitka.
“It’s been a lot of work that’s gone into being ready for today,” Roy said, “so it’s a bit of a celebration in that sense that we get to see all the hard work come to fruition.”
Sitkans gather to greet the cruise ship Serenade of the Seas Wednesday at the Halibut Point Marine Services dock. The vessel is the first large cruise ship to visit Sitka since the 2019 season. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
Roy said she knows Royal Caribbean is keeping passengers informed on the rising number of cases in Sitka, and what precautions they need to follow while in town. That includes masking up on buses and on excursions in the community.
Mark Tamis, senior vice president of Royal Caribbean International, said it had been a great cruise so far, marked by a departure from Seattle under sunny skies and the view of Mt. Rainier on the horizon.
“The highlight? Right now, right here, hitting land in Sitka ... We’re really excited to be back,” he said at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal.
He said bringing cruise ships back to Alaska has been a “huge team effort from the highest level, all the way down to the ship level. We were very supportive from the beginning that no matter how long this season ended up being that we would be here. ... It’s so great to see our guests back on board and getting that great vacation they so desperately wanted.”
The season is starting late, due to the pandemic and Canada’s ban for a second season on cruise ships. The Alaska congressional delegation led the effort to pass legislation allowing foreign-flagged vessels traveling between American ports to skip the usual requirement to stop en route at a foreign port, which in the Alaska-bound cruise business is in Canada.
Tamis said he believes Royal Caribbean has taken all possible anti-COVID precautions – including vaccinations for crew and all eligible passengers – and keeping the passengers informed about local requirements.
“They know whatever the local regulations are, that they follow them,” he said. “So if a particular shop owner asks that you wear a mask, they’ll wear a mask.”
Passengers seemed to be undisturbed about Sitka’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
“We’ve had our shots,” said Patrick McDaniels of Salt Lake City, Utah. “We got tested about three days ago.”
For Patrick and his wife Pam the cruise was a celebration of their 20th wedding anniversary.
“We don’t have COVID,” said Phil Pettit, who’s on the cruise with his wife Beth. Phil added that he doesn’t believe in the virus, but got vaccinated as per the cruise requirements.
“We’re just glad to be out,” Beth said. “Even with the mask restrictions, we’re just happy to be out.”
The Southern California couple bought their cruise tickets as soon as they received the notification that the cruise was happening.
Others — such as Edward and Nedra Johnson of Wisconsin — see the cruise as a step toward a return to normalcy after a year of isolating.
“We’re both vaccinated, and being vaccinated is one of the steps to getting back to normal and we want to get back to normal,” Edward said. “We’re happy we can travel.”
