PORT ANGELES — The World did not pass Port Angeles by last week.
The 644-foot-long cruise ship paid a short visit to Port Angeles on Friday morning, from 6:30 a.m. to about noon, to stock up on supplies before heading to Seattle.
The World, made up of 12 decks, was a similar sight to the msStantendam cruise ship, which docked in Port Angeles on May 7.
But, as its name may suggest, this is no ordinary vessel.
Its passengers are residents who own the condominiums in which they live as they circumnavigate the globe on a voyage that hasn’t ended since the ship was launched in 2002.
And a few of those residents — some in search of Twilight memorabilia — chose to test their land legs and check out the town while Port of Port Angeles staff loaded 10 pallets of food and other supplies onto the ship.
Residents Douglas Schumann and Lisbet Engelsted of Connecticut spoke with a reporter after coming back from a jog down the Waterfront Trail.
The couple said the ship has all of the amenities that could be asked for — from shopping, to gourmet restaurants and recreation — along with an ever-changing view.
“It’s amazing the number of interesting islands that we get to see,” said Schumann, 64.
And the best part about it, besides the view?
“You never have to pack or unpack,” said Engelsted, 48.
Schumann said the couple has owned an apartment on the ship for more than three years.
And like most residents, he said they spend about a third of the year on the voyage.
Schumann said about 150 people were on board Friday.
The other residents, like themselves, meet up with the ship at a port wherever it is docked whenever they wish to join the voyage.
But there is one elderly woman, Schumann said, who hasn’t lived off the ship since 2002.
“She is not able to travel by herself,” he said. “So she gets to travel with a wonderful community with all the help and care you could want.”
And that’s what the ship is — a community — Engelsted said.
“The community is excellent,” she said. “There are interesting people that come from all walks of industry.”
But not all of the people on the voyage are residents. Some join the ship temporarily through a travel agency that owns a few of the rooms.
Kalli O’Malley and her daughter, Lauren O’Malley, of Houston are a few of those vacationers.
“It’s got all the amenities as a cruise ship,” Kalli O’Malley said.
But the difference is?
“Everyone knows everyone,” she said. “It’s a friendly environment.”
Kalli O’Malley said they were on the ship for an 11-day tour that began in Vancouver, British Columbia and will end at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island on Monday.
Since her 17-year-old daughter is a fan of the four-novel Twilight series about vampires and teen love in Forks, the two took advantage of the Port Angeles stop to visit the Dazzled by Twilight store on First Street.
“Our bags are full of Twilight,” said Lauren O’Malley before returning to the ship.
“We cleaned out the store.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
