(CBS Detroit) — Cruise ships docked in downtown Detroit are coming into the Port of Detroit in numbers not seen since the mid-’60s.
On Monday, the Viking Octantis dropped off more than 375 passengers. While tourists strolled around the city for the afternoon, CBS News Detroit investigated the new attraction of cruising the Great Lakes on the megaship.
Long before Detroit established itself as the Motor City, and before air travel became popular with the general public, cruise ships frequently called at the Port of Detroit for both transportation and tourism purposes.
“If you fast forward to the ’60s, cruise ships were booming, but then business started to decline. Since the Columbus returned to the Great Lakes in 1998, it’s been booming again,” said John Jamien, operations director for the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority.
More than 12,000 passengers spent a day in Detroit in 2023, but that wasn’t the only thing they did during their time away from the ship.
“It’s definitely a few million dollars of passenger spending in Detroit, but in terms of the overall economic impact, it’s over $20 million for the region,” Jamian said.
While the entire cruise can cost more than $10,000 for a couple, cabin rates on the Octantis run about $1,000 per person per night for a five-day trip — and for many passengers who are new to the Great Lakes and the Motor City, it’s well worth it.
“I didn’t know much about the Great Lakes, but it’s incredible how vast they are, and the wildlife and ecosystems are just phenomenal,” said Mary Leavell of Charlottesville, Virginia.
“I’m heading to the Henry Ford Museum. I’m a Ford dealer in Jacksonville, Carolina,” said Matt Raymond, from North Carolina.
Great Lakes cruises, which call at cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cleveland, allow you to see all five of the big lakes, and also stop at other great sites, like exploring Mackinac Island and taking a shipwreck tour in Alpena.
While the days of cruising the Great Lakes as a form of transportation are long gone, the era of cruise ship tourism is entering new horizons with a very bright future.
Ships like Octantis, including its sister ship Polaris, called at the port 67 times in 2023. Jamian said the company plans to add more cruise ships in 2025 to meet the growing demand.
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Jack Springgate
