PORT ANGELES — Vendors and tour guides are ready for the 1,266 passengers who are expected to disembark from the Holland America Line cruise ship Statendam on Thursday.
The ship — which is on a five-day tour of Puget Sound with calls also scheduled in Victoria, Seattle and Vancouver and Port Alberni in British Columbia — will dock at Terminal No. 1, where tankers usually are seen, for nine hours, beginning at 8 a.m.
Those who want a look at the ship will have to see it from Front Street and Marine Drive, said Mary Brelsford of the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau.
“For the safety of the passengers and those working to welcome them, there is no entry onto the dock area by vehicle,” she said in a statement.
Once passengers are outside the security fence, they will be met at a welcome tent staffed by Red Coat ambassadors from the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce and others, she said.
Business organizations — including the chamber, the Olympic Visitor Bureau and the Port Angeles Downtown Association — will greet passengers with maps, brochures, sightseeing suggestions and coupons for shopping in downtown Port Angeles.
“You never know what the passengers are looking for,” said Louann Yager, Port Angeles chamber visitor center coordinator, about the coupon books.
“The businesses have been very eager to contribute.”
Yager said that a cruise ship has not docked in Port Angeles for about two years.
Passengers will have had the opportunity aboard ship to sign up for such tours as those of Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, the Hoh Rainforest and local wineries.
They will be deluged with other offers as they exit the security area on the dock, Brelsford said.
“If they haven’t signed up for something on the ship, we have vendors lined up” to take them on tours of Port Angeles Harbor, kayaking, the Elwha River and 7 Cedars casinos, the Port Angeles Underground or of public art in downtown Port Angeles.
Shuttle buses will make three stops in Port Angeles: the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain at First and Laurel streets, Oak and Front streets and the chamber office on Railroad Avenue.
There, tourists can peruse the arts and crafts of about 12 vendors who will be set up in the first floor of The Landing mall.
To prepare for the visitors, “the downtown association is doing a cleanup, the port is cleaning the dock and KPly areas and the Scrub, Polish and Paint Downtown Port Angeles project will be in full swing, with some of the buildings expected to be completed,” Brelsford said.
Said Barb Frederick, Port Angeles Downtown Association executive director: “We are ready.”
For more information, phone the chamber at 360-452-2363, the downtown association at 360-457-9614, or the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau at 360-452-8552.
