 |
| photo: Thompson & Co. PR |
Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess made its inaugural call on
Alaska Native-owned cruise ship destination, Icy Strait Point, on July 3. The
Grand Princess has been repositioned to San Francisco
and is sailing on 10-day cruise itineraries to Alaska
The ship was greeted at Icy Strait
Point, owned and operated by Huna Totem Corporation, with much anticipation by
staff and locals alike. Huna Totem Corporation’s board member Earnest Jack
presented the Grand Princess Staff Captain Michele Bartolomei with a plaque,
featuring Icy Strait Point’s Tlingit-style logo, a salmon-inspired paddle design.
In the Tlingit culture, paddles are given to visitors as an invitation to
return. Icy Strait Point is based on the site of a 1912 historic salmon cannery
and shares the area’s fishing and canning history as well as the Tlingit
culture with visitors.
In 2013, six cruise lines will make
69 ship calls and bring about 135,000 travelers to Icy Strait Point. Icy Strait
Point is a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of Huna Totem Corporation, the
village corporation owned by approximately 1,350 Alaska Natives with aboriginal
ties to Hoonah and the Glacier Bay area.
