News

Actions

Two docked cruise ships bring big business for Norfolk

Posted at 10:12 PM, Oct 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-26 22:12:24-04

NORFOLK, Va.- Two cruise ships docked around the same time Wednesday, resulting in thousands of international tourists on the streets of Norfolk.

Wednesday morning, Carnival Sunshine and AIDAluna docked in Nauticus carrying over 5,500 passengers. Local shopping, finding places to eat and just enjoying everything the city has to offer - tourists who got off the cruise ships said they were loving Norfolk.

"We'll go shopping now in the shopping mall and maybe the shopping center, and maybe we'll eat something - a burger, maybe," said tourist Tom Fees.

Local shops and restaurants say because of it business was booming.

"It's awesome. The more people that come to Norfolk, the more exposure the city gets. It benefits a lot," said Nukri Mamistvalov, manager of Jack Brown's.

"We are always pretty steady, but when we have an influx of tourists, you definitely feel it,. The servers feel it for sure," said. Mamistvalov. "They're like, 'I have to go do this and do that.'"

Both cruise ships left around 6 p.m. Wednesday.