PORT ANGELES — A cruise ship with a capacity of 1,916 passengers will arrive Friday, and business leaders and volunteers plan to give those passengers plenty to do and see while they are in town.
The Holland America-owned MS Zuiderdam will dock at Terminal 1 near the Peninsula Plywood mill at 2 p.m. It is scheduled to depart at 11 p.m.
The ship is on a four-day cruise from San Diego. It will continue on to Vancouver, British Columbia, after it leaves Port Angeles.
Another Holland America ship, the MS Statendam, will arrive at Terminal 1 at noon May 15 and stay until 11 p.m.
It also is traveling from San Diego to Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Statendam, which made a stop in Port Angeles in May 2009, has a 1,260-passenger capacity, according to Holland America’s Web site.
The ships are on repositioning cruises, traveling from their winter berths in the Carribbean to prepare for the summer season in Alaska.
The final four-day cruise is the end of an 18-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to information given to the downtown association.
The number of passengers that will be aboard the ships is not clear.
That information given to the downtown association said that the Zuiderdam has a capacity of 1,850 passengers and the Statendam has a capacity of 1,300. Different numbers were on the company’s Web site.
Events have been organized for the passengers of both ships.
‘Want them to come back’
“We want them to come back again,” Barb Frederick, executive director of the Port Angeles Downtown Association, has said, “not just the cruise ships but we want the passengers to want to come back again and again.”
Shuttles will take passengers around downtown, to the Elwha River Casino and to historical- and art-related stops in Port Angeles. An arts fair will also be held at The Landing Mall.
Sequim and the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe also hope to catch the attention of some of the passengers.
The tribe is offering tours of totem poles in Blyn and shuttles to the 7 Cedars Casino.
An Art Walk and Irrigation Festival events such as the Logging Show in Sequim will also be advertised to the passengers on Friday.
Cruise-sponsored destinations include Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, and North Olympic Peninsula Wineries.
To volunteer for Port Angeles preparations, phone the Port Angeles Downtown Assoication at 360-457-9614 or see www.portangelesdowntown.com.
To volunteer or sponsor shuttles, phone Louann Yager, Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce volunteer coordinator, at 360-452-2363, ext. 17.
To sell arts or crafts at The Landing mall, phone Peggy Acorn at 360-457-4407 or e-mail peggy@thelandingmall.com.
To be an activity vendor, phone Gloria Cerney, marketing assistant at the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau, at 360-452-8552 or e-mail info@olympicpeninsula.org.
