BOSTON -- Boston's Massport handled 126,840 cruise passengers in
1999, a 17% increase over 1998 figures and the most in the port's
history.
Massport officials said Boston's April-to-November cruise season
has an economic impact of $40 million on business and said
increasing deployments in New England, Canada and the Canadian
maritimes accounted for the increase in calls at Boston. Since
1985, when Boston received 13 calls, cruise-ship visits to the city
have grown 450%, to 73 calls this year.
"The variety of lines and itineraries underscores Boston's
desirability as an embarkation and port-of-call venue," said
Virginia Buckingham, Massport's chief executive officer.
"Originally, the Boston-Bermuda cruises were the foundation of
our cruise business," said Massport director Michael Leone.
"That success and our marketing led to new itineraries and new
[cruises] to New England, Canada and across the Atlantic next
year," he said.
Norwegian Cruise Line will continue its Boston-Bermuda series in
May and October of next year, and passengers will also embark from
Boston for four transatlantic cruises to Southampton, England, and
four cruises to Canada on Carnival Cruise Lines' 2,600-passenger
Carnival Destiny.
Boston also is the port of embarkation for a series of two- and
five-day cruises aboard Premier Cruises' 840-passenger SeaBreeze
next May through October.
Massport has more than 100 calls scheduled for 2000.