City looking for big welcome for newest cruise ship

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BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

FORT MADISON - It's maiden voyage will bring it to the shores of Fort Madison, and city officials want you there to see this ship.

Fort Madison City Manager David Varley said American Cruise Lines will be bringing it's newest ship the Harmony to dock at the city's pier in Riverview Park on Sunday morning just before 8 a.m.

"We, and American Cruise Lines, are hoping we can put on a big welcome for this ship because this is the first year it's been on the Mississippi and the first time here," Varley said Tuesday night during the Fort Madison City Council meeting.

"So we want to welcome and encourage everyone to come down to welcome these passengers. We're hoping, because it's Sunday, to be able to get some music down there, maybe a school band or something and put on a nice welcome. Dr. Watkins will be there again from the Old Fort to shoot off the canon."

The Harmony is American Cruise Lines second offering in it's modernized river cruise ships. With a passenger capacity of just under 200, the Harmony carries more passengers in a sleek, longer boat that has a walkway, or gang plank, that extends out from inside the nose of the boat to let passengers off at the pier.

The Sunday stop will be a six-hour layover for passengers and will include one of two tours through historical Fort Madison or through some of the areas agribusinesses. Passengers can also utilize a shuttle to explore downtown Fort Madison.

City and Fort Madison Chamber of Commerce officials have encouraged retail business owners to be open on Sunday to allow the passengers wandering downtown Fort Madison to see all the the city has to offer.

The cruise will be the sixth stop out of 14 scheduled before the end of October. Next year the cruise line is planning on close to 30 stops in Fort Madison.



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