By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A small cruise ship line will be docking in Port Royal over the next few months.
American Cruise Line will be using the Safe Harbor dock for their cruise ships until just after the new year. American Cruise Line is a popular cruise line that navigates rivers and intercoastal waterways.
The first of the cruise ships, a 241-foot-long ship called American Liberty, docked in Battery Creek last week.
Typically, the cruise line has docked at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, but in July the city of Beaufort made the decision to no longer allow them to dock at the park because of the deterioration of the underwater pilings that support it.
City officials fear that the weight of the vessels would put too much pressure on the waterfront’s infrastructure, so despite protest from downtown businesses who rely on the tourists that come on the cruise ships for income, they said they did not have a choice in the matter.
Due to this decision, the cruise line turned to the town of Port Royal and Safe Harbor Marinas.
The passengers from the ship are being bused to downtown Beaufort, where they are partaking in shopping, dining and tours through the historic district.
This allows the American Cruise Lines to comply with agreements it made with local tour companies that focus on local architecture, history, Hollywood films that have been made in the area and Gullah Geechee culture.
The cruise ships that are stopping in Port Royal and Hilton Head during the fall and winter seasons are part of the southeast and holiday cruises that sail from Amelia Island, Fla., to Charleston.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
