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| Cruise Ships Rendezvous in Astoria |
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By Peter Marsh
This summer, Astorians have seen their town profiled on the cover of the New York Times Travel Section and had a Hollywood film crew in residence. But the biggest day of the year was undoubtedly Monday September 27th when the population woke up to find three cruise ships in town. I'm not talking about imitation sternwheelers--these were the real thing--floating cities--two towering over Pier 1, the other anchored approximately opposite the maritime museum.
The ships at the pier were both Holland America liners--the Zaandam and Amsterdam--with the royal blue hulls that are the line's trademark. The one at anchor was the Norwegian Sun. Between them, these ships carried around 5,000 passengers and 2,000 crew, and before long they were flooding onto the riverwalk and city center by the hundreds.
Passengers on the Norwegian Sun were ferried ashore in the ship's tenders and landed at the 17th Street dock, right next to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. The Holland America passengers could buy shuttle bus passes when they stepped ashore, although many chose to ride the trolley, which ran with "standing room only" all day.
As many as 4,000 people filled the town under perfect blue skies until 4PM with some merchants doing a roaring business, others hardly noticing a change. Then they began to drift back to their ships. By 5PM, the town was back to normal and the "big day" was over, But it's not an experience that Astorians will quickly forget, and they will get another chance to experience a "triple shipping day" next year on May 5!
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