YORKTOWN, Va. — Holland America Cruise Line has canceled two planned calls for 2025 in Yorktown, citing concern from residents.
In an email, a spokesperson from the cruise line said to a spokesperson for York County, "We weren't aware of the sensitivity to cruise ships in Yorktown nor the close work with PCL [Princess Cruise Line] on their 2024 calls."
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Holland America Cruise Line to come to Yorktown
Community groups in Yorktown raised concerns after Princess Cruise Lines planned stops at the small port for the 2024 season.
At a session in Aug., a Princess representative said the Island Princess will stop in Yorktown three times in 2024. They also mentioned the possibility of stopping five times in 2025.
The ship will anchor in the York River and ferry people to shore.
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Yorktown community remains divided on its future as cruise stop
The Island Princess can hold 2,200 passengers. By comparison, Yorktown has a population of just a few hundred.
“We don’t feel that the scale of the ship is appropriate for Yorktown, we aren’t anti tourist, we aren’t anti cruise ships,” said concerned citizen Alyssa Adams.
Holland America says they have changed the two calls scheduled for Yorktown in 2025 to two alternate locations.
"We saw an opportunity based on PCL opening the port, so we thought we would try the calls on our coastal sailings as well," a representative said to York County in an email. "Please note that we never intended to cause any issues with the port or local community by adding these calls onto our sailings."
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