CLEVELAND — On Tuesday morning, the Victory I cruise ship pulled into the Port of Cleveland, kicking off the 2025 Great Lakes Cruise Season.
The voyage marked a return for the vessel after a one-year absence, as it had undergone an ownership change and a new name.
The 286-foot-long Victory I and its twin ship Victory II were completely refurbished during the downtime. It's the maiden stop on what promises to be a busy 2025 season.
"This is going to be a record year for us," said David Gutheil, Interim Port President and CEO. "We'll have 55 cruise calls this year, a big jump from last year, which was low 20s."
The 10-night Victory cruise takes passengers across the five Great Lakes as they travel from Toronto to Chicago.
"Welcome to the windy city," said Harry Doer, visiting from California with his wife Kay. He wasn't confusing Cleveland with Chicago but rather referring to the heavy winds that greeted them as they docked. They're not complaining, at least it was a warm wind.
"It's actually been nicer than we thought," said Kay. "Yeah, we thought it would be colder, but it's not at all," added Harry.
It's their first trip across the Great Lakes; for the Rices of Syracuse, it's their second. They love it, though maybe their children don't.
"We just decided, you know what, with these kids all grown up, we're going to spend their inheritance as fast as possible," Eileen Rice joked.
And studies have shown they'll leave part of that inheritance here, with each passenger spending an average of $150 during their roughly 12 hours in port. Tour buses wait to take them to places like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Art Museum, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and, for Jim Estomo of Los Angeles, the Crawford Auto Museum.
"I understand that's quite a deal because I'm into cars, so I can hardly wait to see it," he said. "The cruise has been excellent, I'd recommend it to anyone. We've seen some great places along the lakes and in the cities. It's really been quite an experience."
Jim's a first-time visitor from Los Angeles. We ran into a lot of Californians on this cruise, making their first visit to Cleveland. For Peter Knego, it's a return visit following a cruise stop here in 2017.
"Actually, I was blown away by Cleveland. I had no idea. Everybody told me Cincinnati's the best city in Ohio, I like Cincinnati a lot, but Cleveland has that incredible cemetery, great museums, I love the Mather, which I'm going to go over and see in about 15-20 minutes. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You guys have great restaurants," he said, adding. "You should hire me to work for your chamber of commerce."
And that's what makes the 10,000 visitors expected to come into the port this summer so important because many will be experiencing Northeast Ohio for the first time and research by Destination Cleveland has shown that if you can get someone here for the first time you are very likely to send them off as ambassadors of the city.
