In Person
Questions for Mike McLaughlin, Director of Cruise Operations, Port of Seattle
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Heidi Dietrich Staff Writer
Mike McLaughlin, director of cruise operations for the Port of Seattle, just oversaw the opening of a new cruise terminal in Smith Cove and expects another strong year for cruise ships stopping in Seattle. Next year, Holland America will add eight 14-day trips from Seattle to Alaska.
On why the port opened the new cruise facility: In the fall of 2005, one of our container customers who operates Terminals 18 and 25 came to the port with the desire to expand their facilities, as they were anticipating growth in the container industry. We recognized that the cruise terminal at Terminal 30 (in the Sodo area) would need to be relocated. The study identified Terminal 91 as the best place (for cruise ships) due to the size of the pier, and the physical location and orientation of views to the harbor.
On how cruise lines feel about the new terminal’s location: From the cruise lines’ perspective, they’d prefer not to be right downtown because of traffic congestion. From a navigational side, T91 actually reduces about 30 minutes of travel time to their destination.
On whether the Smith Cove facility will take tourists away from businesses in downtown Seattle: The majority of our cruise business is a seven-day home port business. It’s primarily getting passengers on and off their ship. There’s not a lot of opportunity for enjoying the sights. Some passengers will come to stay in Seattle for a few days before the cruise and stay in a local hotel. The T91 location does not really affect that.
On how much cruise business Smith Cove will take, and how much will stay at Bell Harbor on the central waterfront: It’s about 50 percent of our volume at Smith Cove (near Magnolia).
On the environmental impact of the new terminal: One positive feature at the new terminal is that both berths will be outfitted with shore power connections. Vessels can come to the dock and shut off their diesel generating motors and plug into the dock. Shore power eliminates a lot of air (pollution) concerns.
On the number of ships coming to Seattle this year: 211 scheduled cruise calls this year. One more than last year.
On how many people will pass through the cruise terminals this year: We’re projecting just over 800,000 based on the ship schedule as we know it today for 2009. If the ships run higher than their occupancy, as they have in the past, that number would be greater.
It is lower than actual counts from last year, which was record. We had 886,000 last year. That’s not saying we couldn’t achieve that number again this year. But this year Norwegian Cruise Line dropped a cruise on both ends of the season and Holland America decided to take their larger ship and do a retrofit to create larger family suites. That requires dry-dock work in Europe, so they’re bringing a smaller vessel here in 2009. The larger ship will return in 2010.
On the biggest recent coup: In 2010, Carnival will bring a homeport (cruise) to Seattle that will sail every Tuesday and a seven-day cruise that stops in Seattle. That’s a big win for the local economy.
On how Seattle has grown to surpass Vancouver, British Columbia: Last year was the first we were ahead. The Alaska market first started to open up in the 1990s in Vancouver. 1999 was our first year in the business. We had six cruise vessels at that time. Technology totally changed the dynamic. The cruise lines became faster, shortening the trip between Seattle and Alaska. The airline flight cost is less to fly in and out of Seattle.
On how the economy is affecting the cruise business: The cruise lines are finding they’ve had to reduce their standard cruise fees considerably from years in the past. There’s still a level of confidence that they’ll sail with full capacity. The economy impact is that you can get a cruise cheaper this year for the same destination.
hrdietrich@bizjournals.com | 206.876.5421
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