THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609280242
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 84 lines
Downtown Norfolk surprised and impressed Jane McLeary as she stepped off the cruise ship Royal Odyssey tied at the Nauticus pier on Friday morning.
The city's riverfront has changed dramatically since the San Francisco resident lived in Portsmouth as her husband's ship was being built at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard during World War II.
``I can't get over how wonderful Norfolk is now,'' said McLeary as she carried a shopping bag back aboard the big white vessel. ``It used to be kind of ratty in 1944.''
That's exactly the impression Norfolk officials hope to make on the Royal Odyssey's 705 passengers.
The Royal Odyssey is the first cruise ship to call in Norfolk in 12 years and the first one downtown in much longer than that. If the passengers like it, maybe more cruise ships will visit and maybe some of its passengers will return on their own.
``This is an exciting moment for us,'' said Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim. ``We have devoted considerable assets to the redevelopment of downtown. One thing we'd like to attract is more tourists and the fact that a cruise ship can tie up at the Nauticus pier only adds to that and proves that Nauticus is a valuable addition to our waterfront.''
The 676-foot Royal Odyssey came to Norfolk as part of Norwegian Cruise Lines' Colonial Cruise. The ship tied up at about 7:30 a.m. and sailed for Baltimore at 8 p.m. She will return on a southbound Colonial Cruise on Nov. 2.
About half of the ship's passengers took a day-long bus tour to Williamsburg. The rest wandered around Norfolk's waterfront, visited Nauticus and shopped at Waterside. Some took shorter tours of the Norfolk Naval Base, the Botanical Gardens and Ghent.
``It's so nice and clean,'' said Emily Amaral of San Bruno, Calif., as she carried two big shopping bags from a morning spree at Waterside. ``It's better than San Francisco. There's no litter and no sleeping bums all over the place.''
The shops at Waterside opened an hour early Friday morning to accommodate the cruise ship's passengers. It paid off.
``Was it a bonanza? No, but it's money that wouldn't be here otherwise,'' said Marty Staiger, owner of Ships Store USA, which sells Navy memorabilia at Waterside. ``It's a great idea. Let's bring more cruise ships here.''
The call also provided big business for the region's cab companies. Norfolk Checker had sent 15 loaded cabs to Williamsburg and about 40 others all over Hampton Roads by 10:30 a.m, said Joe Gerena, who was down at the pier with a radio coordinating the service.
``We were surprised,'' Gerena said. ``We're doing more business than we thought.''
In the 1970s, cruise ships stopped at Norfolk International Terminals, the city's busy container port.
When the region's ports were unified under the auspices of the Virginia Port Authority, cruise ship calls were moved to Newport News Marine Terminal, which was a slower cargo terminal at the time.
Norwegian Cruise Lines has for years run a Colonial Cruise calling at East Coast ports. This year it wanted something different for its customers.
With the help of its local ship's agent, T. Parker Host Inc. of Norfolk, it arranged to tie up at Nauticus pier this fall.
``This is a place where a cruise ship is supposed to be docked, not a pier with cargo and containers,'' said the liner's Greek Captain Constantinos Fafalios, who brought the Royal Odyssey to Newport News last year.
``To come into a pier like this, the passengers are happy right away,'' added Kjell Jorkjen, the ship's Norwegian cruise director.
And that's what's important, said Tom Host, T. Parker Host's vice president, because if the customers are happy then the cruise line will keep coming back.
Hank and Catherine Wallace of Long Beach, Calif., were certainly happy. They didn't go on any of the tours. They were just sitting on a bench in Town Point Park enjoying the sunny day and the breeze off the Elizabeth River.
``It's beautiful here,'' Catherine Wallace said. ``We're enjoying the cruise because it's a part of the United States we've never seen.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BILL TIERNAN photos\The Virginian-Pilot
Betty Riggs, left, and Betty Lou George, both of California, were
among the 705 passengers on the Royal Odyssey ship which tied to the
Nauticus pier Friday. Timothee Faberger is a member of the crew.
The Royal Odyssey cruise ship, part of Norwegian Cruise Lines'
Colonial Cruise, tied up at 7:30 a.m. Friday morning and left for
Baltimore at 8 p.m.
KEYWORDS: TOURISM by CNB