Tourists and cruise ships return to Nome after COVID hiatus
After two years of a pandemic preventing most tourism and cruise ships to visit Nome, this summer will see eight cruise ships making nine voyages into port. The first cruise ship, the Roald Amundsen, is scheduled to arrive the morning of July 23. There are also several research vessels scheduled to pass through, but more than half of the originally planned ships have cancelled. Dave Karp, partner at Nome Discovery Tours, explained that the cancelations have more to do with the Russian invasion of Ukraine than anything else. Many cruises had itineraries in Russian waters and were forced to call them off. Instead, he said, this summer will look like 2019.
Cruise ships are generally scheduled to arrive in Nome in the morning. Passengers will disembark, eat, drink, and tour town, and then board planes to leave. The same planes will be bringing in new passengers in, who will tour town, and then board the ship, departing at night. Karp says their goal is to “expose them to as much of Nome as possible” in the time they have. There will be presentations given, on mushing and gold panning, and they will be closer to town, so the tourists spend more time in town than on buses. That also might mean that they buy more things. Karp is also encouraging people to participate in arts and crafts fairs, about which he is speaking with the Nome Arts Council.
Even with COVID protocols, the smallest ships have 125 passengers, meaning 250 new people in a day. The largest, the Roald Amundsen is currently limited to 350 passengers, meaning 700 new trips through Nome on the two days it is in port. That doesn’t mean 700 people walking down Front Street all at the same time, but local businesses are expecting an increase in people coming through.
Bering Tea and Coffee’s owner Kristine McRae, said that her business already sees an increased number of people coming in. They get visitors from across the board, both geographically – from Alaska to Europe – and purpose – from birders to seasonal workers. “It’s just fun seeing all the different people coming through,” she said.
Andrew James, co-manager at Maruskiya’s said they’re excited to see more people in town. “Having people in the shop is fun,” he said. While there is a little disappointment that more ships aren’t coming through, he knew that increase will come in time. They’re using a “take it as it comes approach,” he said.
Karp said that what he hears from the cruise lines is that they have rigid COVID safety protocols in place, and that they are in contact with local health officials. Still, Southeast Alaska has had among the highest COVID case rates in the country for several weeks, presumably due to cruise ships. At least one in seven cases newly reported to the Dept. of Health and Social Services were tourists at sea. The CDC is currently investigating 85 of the 93 ships registered in the CDC Program for Cruise Ships. The Amundsen is among them.
Though the immediate health impacts of the pandemic are waning, economic roadblocks persist. McRae explained that the price of milk recently jumped, and availability of logo merchandise is down.
Still, with the newly renovated Nome Community Center garden on the corner, she was optimistic. “Summer is a really fun time for us,” McRae said.