Three Cruise Lines Announce Stops in Duluth

DULUTH -- For the first time in years, cruise ships will be stopping in Duluth later this year.

Maarja Anderson Hewitt is with Visit Duluth. She says two cruise lines are scheduled to stop in the port city this summer and fall.

We do have the Hanseatic Inspiration visiting as well as a ship with Victory Cruise Lines, they are scheduled to visit in the summer and one also in October for fall colors.  It's really exciting because Duluth hasn't welcomed a cruise vessel since 2013.

Hewitt says a third cruise line, Viking, is building a ship called The Ocantis that will start sailing in Lake Superior next summer with a scheduled stop in Duluth.

Hewitt says cruising has already been huge on the other smaller Great Lakes.

There's an interest and there's certainly an appetite right now for Lake Superior because it hasn't been done.  So all of a sudden we are seeing these cruise lines really want to get into the Lake Superior market and start offering itineraries that include Thunder Bay and Duluth and other ports.

Hewitt says for now Duluth is not a port of call and visitors will just be stopping for the day.

The Viking 2022 trip itinerary is eight days and you embark in Thunder Bay and then the next stop is Duluth, then you visit the Apostle Islands, Houghton, Michigan, Mackinac Island, and then it stops in Milwaukee.

Hewitt says the city of Duluth and the Port are working on making changes to the sea wall and making investments for future cruising to the city.

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