First Cruise Ship Docked In San Francisco Since Pandemic A Signal Of Hope For Many – CBS San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) – For the first time since the pandemic began, a towering Majestic Princess cruise ship moored in San Francisco harbor. It was a hopeful sight and could signal a comeback for the competitive cruise industry.
In March 2020, a cruise ship with sick passengers and crew members landed in the bay. It was San Francisco’s first contact with the coronavirus and many people feared it. But on Monday another cruise ship docked and brought not illness, but optimism for the future.
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For city commuters, it was a place for sore eyes. The Majestic Princess docked there on Monday morning at 6:30 a.m. as the first cruise ship since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Oh, I’m so excited. It’s like the world is opening up for us again. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, ”said Sandy Lipkowitz, owner of a local travel agency called We Make Travel Easy.
Lipkowitz said it was unfortunate that another ship, the Grand Princess, became an early global symbol of the pandemic. They were stuck in Oakland with sick passengers and crew members and sat on a cargo berth and could not come ashore for fear of the new virus.
“You know, the princess had a hard time in the beginning,” said Lipkowitz. “It was really unfair, they were caught at sea when nobody knew what was going on.”
Now the precautionary measures are closely monitored. Without a proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test, nobody can get on the ship. Guests wear masks when moving around the boat, except in the dining areas. The protocols are so strict that what was once considered a super-spreader environment is now considered by many travel professionals to be the safest form of travel in the world.
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“It’s as safe as anything else,” said cruise fan Tom Barton. “You can go to a soccer field with 40,000 people and in my opinion it’s not as safe as coming here on a cruise ship.”
The city is also happy about the return of the ships. In the year before the pandemic, cruise lines brought 280,000 tourists to San Francisco and contributed $ 27 million to economic benefits for local businesses.
“So you can imagine that this cruise break definitely slowed economic activity,” said Andre Coleman, deputy director of SF Port Maritime. “But we look forward to the safe resumption of the cruise and look forward to a record year in 2022.”
Because 127 cruise stops are already planned in San Francisco for next year, more than ever before. These include 28 from a new ship that will make The City its home port, the Carnival Miracle.
But on Monday morning the Majestic Princess performed a little miracle, both on and off the boat.
“I think you are seeing the return of life,” said Richard Bullen as he photographed the huge ship from the dock. “The flow starts to happen in a way that it didn’t have before. That hadn’t happened before. “
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And now that the first cruise ship has arrived, there are many more to come. Assuming everything goes well, 21 stops are planned for the remaining three months of 2021.
