Founded | 1973 |
---|---|
Founder | Chuck West |
Defunct | September 22, 2010 |
Successor | Un-Cruise Adventures |
Cruise West was an independent, destination focused small-ship cruise operator based in Seattle, Washington. The line was the largest operator of U.S. flagged cruise vessels (by number of vessels) with nine currently operating. They were best known for their Alaska cruises but their reach includes destinations all around the Pacific Ocean. Cruise West announced on September 18, 2010, that it is ceasing operations.
Founded in 1973 by Chuck West, Cruise West started out as an Alaska tour operator. [1] It wasn't until 1990 that the company purchased its first overnight vessel, the 52-passenger Spirit of Glacier Bay. Through the 1990s the company increasingly focused on cruising and expanded its fleet and added new non-Alaskan destinations such as the Columbia and Snake Rivers, British Columbia, California's wine country, and into Mexico's Sea of Cortes. [2]
In 2001 the line acquired its first oceangoing and foreign-flagged vessel, the 114-passenger Spirit of Oceanus, a former Renaissance Cruises vessel. Cruise West expanded to Central America when they joined forces with Temptress Cruise Lines of Costa Rica to offer cruises on the 100-passenger M/V Pacific Explorer in Costa Rica and Panama.
In January 2006 Cruise West purchased the US-flagged-half of Clipper Cruise Line's fleet, the 102-passenger Nantucket Clipper and the 138-passenger Yorktown Clipper. The line renamed the vessels "Spirit of Nantucket" and Spirit of Yorktown, respectively. [3] The Spirit of Nantucket operated on the U.S. east coast and the Great Lakes for two seasons before the line decided that it would join the rest of the fleet on the Pacific coast and be rechristened Spirit of Glacier Bay. Clipper Cruise lines has since sold off its remaining vessels and went out of business.
The line operated nine small vessels that range in capacity from 78 to 138 passengers in the Americas, South Pacific and Asia. Small-ship cruising allows for up-close and personal cruising not offered by the traditional larger cruise lines.
On September 8, 2010, the line issued a press release stating that they were restructuring under new ownership, suspended all new bookings, and had temporarily closed their reservation center.
On September 18, 2010, Cruise West announced that it will cease operations with the exception of the Sept 22 Danube Cruise. Six ships were sold off to other companies: Spirit of Oceanus, Spirit of Endeavour, Spirit of '98, Spirit of Discovery, Spirit of Alaska, Spirit of Columbia the others are most likely still waiting to be sold.
Seattle-based Un-Cruise Adventures (formerly American Safari Cruises + InnerSea Discoveries) acquired the Spirit of Endeavour, now the Safari Endeavour; and the Spirit of '98, now the S.S. Legacy. Un-Cruise Adventures offers similar small-ship cruising experiences in Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, Mexico's Sea of Cortes, the Columbia & Snake Rivers, Coastal Washington, and British Columbia.
On August 19, 2007, the Spirit of Columbia ran aground in Latouche Passage in Prince William Sound. The Captain piloted the ship too close to shore while bear viewing. The US Coast Guard sent two HH-60 helicopters, a C-130 aircraft, and the Cutter Sycamore to assist the crew free the vessel. [4]
The second grounding of 2007 came on November 8 when the Spirit of Nantucket, now known as the Spirit of Glacier Bay, hit an uncharted object in the Intracoastal Waterway near Virginia Beach, Virginia. Coast Guard ships from Portsmouth, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina, as well as police and fire units from Virginia Beach, arrived to help the distressed ship. [5]
Two additional groundings occurred in 2008, beginning with the Spirit of Alaska hitting a rock in Tracy Arm while cruising the Inside Passage of Alaska on June 4, 2008. Though the incident was minor, it did require a Coast Guard inspection and cancellation of the remainder of the cruise. [6]
The last grounding, and by far most dramatic, involved the Spirit of Glacier Bay, formerly known as the Spirit of Nantucket. On July 7, 2008, the ship was cruising Tarr Inlet in Glacier Bay National Park when it ran aground on a silt bar. The ship was stuck for over nine hours while awaiting the incoming tide. [7]
After the July 2008 grounding, the US Coast Guard released a statement revealing that Cruise West was part of a special program designed to review the company's safety procedures and maintenance records due to their recent string of incidents at sea. [8]
Cruise West has also chartered vessels allowing them to offer cruises in the Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, and on the Danube River though Eastern Europe.
Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern, and sometimes called the Alaska(n) panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of southeast Alaska is situated in Tlingit Aaní, much of which is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United States' largest national forest. In many places, the international border runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The region is noted for its scenery and mild, rainy climate.
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Set up in 1960 to provide a similar service to that provided by the Black Ball Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which were affected by job action at the time, BC Ferries has become the largest passenger ferry line in North America, operating a fleet of 41 vessels with a total passenger and crew capacity of over 27,000, serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast.
The Inside Passage is a coastal route for ships and boats along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific Northwest coast of the North American Fjordland. The route extends from southeastern Alaska in the United States, through western British Columbia in Canada, to northwestern Washington state in the United States. Ships using the route can avoid some of the bad weather in the open ocean and may visit some of the many isolated communities along the route. The Inside Passage is heavily travelled by cruise ships, freighters, tugs with tows, fishing craft, pleasure craft, and ships of the Alaska Marine Highway, BC Ferries, and Washington State Ferries systems. Coast Guard vessels of both Canada and the United States patrol and transit in the Passage.
The Alaska Marine Highway (AMH) or the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is a ferry service operated by the U.S. state of Alaska. It has its headquarters in Ketchikan, Alaska.
MV LeConte is a feeder vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway System, built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1973 and commissioned in 1974 by Alaska's ferry system. LeConte is the older sister ship to M/V Aurora, and both serve as feeder vessels that pick up passengers in small communities such as Hoonah and take them to larger regional communities.
MV Lituya is a shuttle ferry operated by the Alaska Marine Highway System. Her route connects Metlakatla on Annette Island to Ketchikan.
MS Song of Norway was one of the first ships purpose-built as a cruise ship. She was the first ship of Royal Caribbean International when she entered operation in 1970. She was sold for scrap in 2013 and broken up in 2014, after serving her last years as a gambling ship.
MS Tropicale was a cruise ship that entered service in 1982, and was one of the pioneering cruise ships in the modernization of the cruise industry. She was Carnival Cruises Line's first newly built ship, initially operating mainly in the Mexican Riviera and the Caribbean.
Spirit of London was an Italian built cruise ship put into service in 1972. In January 2012, Runfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises took over as operator, renaming the ship Ocean Dream.
The Grand Trunk steamship Prince Rupert and her sister ship SS Prince George served the coast of British Columbia and Alaska. Prince Rupert had a 45-year career serving northern ports from Vancouver, British Columbia, from 1910 to 1955. The ship was considered "unlucky" and suffered several incidents during her career, including two significant ones that left large portions of the vessel underwater. The ship was broken up in 1956.
The American Empress is a 360-foot (110 m) diesel-electric powered paddle-wheeler that was formerly operated by Majestic America Line and named the Empress of the North. She was built in 2002 at the Nichols Brothers Boat Builders shipyard on Whidbey Island, in the U.S. state of Washington, for $50 million and debuted as a cruise ship in 2003. She is listed as accommodating 223 guests, and originally cruised Alaska's Inside Passage, the Pacific Northwest, and the Columbia River. While being operated by Majestic America Line, the ship was decorated with a 19th century Russian theme, but with Alaskan touches in the form of carvings and masks.
Spirit of Glacier Bay, formerly Spirit of Nantucket and Nantucket Clipper, and now called the Chichagof Dream is a small cruise ship that was owned and operated by Cruise West until 2010. She is 207 feet long, carries up to 102 passengers and approximately 28 crew. It was built in 1984 at Jeffersonville, Indiana for Clipper Cruise Lines by Jeffboat Corporation, and operated on the East Coast of North America, from the Caribbean Sea to the Canadian Maritimes and into the Great Lakes as far as Chicago. In 2006, Nantucket Clipper, along with fleet-mate Yorktown Clipper, was purchased by Seattle-based Cruise West. Nantucket Clipper was renamed Spirit of Nantucket at this time. In 2006 and 2007 she continued operating on her usual routes.
MS World Discoverer was a cruise ship designed for and built by Schichau Unterweser, Germany in 1974. During construction called BEWA Discoverer, the ship was completed in Bremerhaven, Germany. In 2000, the ship struck an underwater obstacle and was damaged; it was subsequently grounded – to prevent sinking – and abandoned in the Solomon Islands.
USS Raeo (SP-588) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. Prior to her U.S. Navy service, she operated as the motor passenger vessel Raeo from 1908 to 1917. After the conclusion of her U.S. Navy career, she served as the fishery patrol vessel USFS Kittiwake in the United States Bureau of Fisheries fleet from 1919 to 1940 and as US FWS Kittiwake in the Fish and Wildlife Service fleet from 1940 to 1942 and from 1944 to at least 1945, and perhaps as late as 1948. During World War II, she again served in the U.S. Navy, this time as the yard patrol boat USS YP-199. She was the civilian fishing vessel Raeo from 1948 to 1957, then operated in various roles as Harbor Queen from 1957 to 1997. She became Entiat Princess in 1998 and as of 2009 was still in service.
La Belle Des Oceans is a small, yacht-type cruise ship operated by CroisiEurope. She has previously been operated by a number of cruise lines under different names, the most recent of which was Silver Discoverer.
USCGC Liberty (WPB-1334) is an Island-class cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She spent her first 33 years of service homeported in Juneau, Alaska where she patrolled territorial waters, including the Inside Passage. In 2016 she won the Hopley Yeaton Cutter Excellence Award for outstanding operational and humanitarian achievements. In 2022 she was reassigned to Valdez, Alaska.
UnCruise Adventures is an American-owned small ship adventure cruise line founded in Everett, Washington. In 2008, the then American Safari Cruises was purchased by the parent company InnerSea Discoveries Alaska Inc. In early 2013 after a fleet expansion, the American Safari Cruises was renamed to Un-Cruise Adventures. In 2016, the company rebranded itself UnCruise Adventures, while also unveiling a new logo. Currently the cruise line operates 9 ships, 8 of which are fully owned, and a majority sailing under the U.S. flag. The cruise liner operates two headquarters, the main headquarters is located in Seattle, Washington and the second located in Juneau, Alaska. It offers small group tours and expedition voyages in destinations ranging from Alaska to the Galápagos Islands.
HMS Walmer Castle was a Castle-class corvette constructed for the British Royal Navy during the Second World War. Before completion, the ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed HMCS Leaside. The corvette was used as an ocean convoy escort during the war and was sold for mercantile use following it. The ship was purchased for use as a passenger ship and renamed Coquitlam, then in 1958, Glacier Queen. In 1970 Glacier Queen was acquired for use as a floating hotel in Alaska. The ship sank in 1978 and was raised and scuttled in Alaskan waters in 1979.
Nikola Bezmalinović, known as Nick Bez, was the founder of fishing, canning, and shipping companies in Juneau, Alaska. He operated the largest fishing ship at the time, the 423 ft. Pacific Explorer. He also owned and operated the Nornek cannery, two gold mines, Alaska Southern Packing Company, Peter Pan Seafoods, Alaska Southern Airways, Pacific Exploration Company and the Intercoastal Packing Company, as well as West Coast Airlines, which became part of Air West. He became known as a "rags to riches" entrepreneur. In 1919, Nikola Bezmalinović changed his name to Nick Bez. Bez died in 1969.
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