On Saturday Arctic Bay was visited by the first cruise ship of the year. The Hanseatic pulled in around noon and soon there were a couple hundred orange clad tourists walking around. The Hamlet put on a bit of a cultural show for them down around the qarmaq and a craft/art sale for them later on. By three they were starting to head back to the ship and by five they were sailing again. They leave comforted in the knowledge that they know everything there is to know about Arctic Bay.
Comments
5 responses
How many cruise ships do you get per year?
And why are the tourists orange-clad? Are they afraid that someone will like it too much there, and try to stay? And that they’ll know them by their orange clothing…?
There are many tourists who like their knowledge of place short and sweet. A few photos and they’ve “been there.”
Tourism is great for our economy. It’s second to oil. It’s also great talking to people who are visiting from other places.
The number varies from year to year. We’ve lost a couple (the ones I used to lead) as they now end and start at Resolute due to problems they had with weather at the airport. I anticipate two this year but I haven’t really heard. They are orange clad because they are all in floater suits for the trip by Zodiac from the ship to shore.
When I re-read this post I found it came off as kind of snarky, which I didn’t really intend. Must have been a mood I was in. Cruises are a great way to get a flavour of the Arctic and have done much to bring it into people’s conciousness.
They don’t really bring much to local economies, a few sales of arts. While they are big business most of the revenue is for places down south. They excel at education as they always have good lecturers aboard for the times between landings, and that is important. It is nice having them come here.
“They leave comforted in the knowledge that they know everything there is to know about Arctic Bay.”
LOL! And on the way to Alaska they spent a day in Seattle, riding the amphibious bus around downtown and visiting the market, so they know my town pretty well, too! I want to visit Arctic Bay. It sounds wonderful.