Something happened in the Erie Basin Marina on Thursday afternoon that hadn’t happened in decades. A passenger cruise ship arrived and docked.
The 130-passenger vessel American Patriot arrived five and a half hours ahead of schedule, docking along Erie Street around 3:30 p.m. It was originally expected to arrive closer to 9 p.m.
The first passengers to step ashore were Gary and Betty Studenic of Marietta, Georgia. With the ship in port until Saturday, they looked forward to seeing some of the region’s attractions.
“Niagara Falls,” said Betty. “I know there's a Frank Lloyd Wright Museum or something like that. I heard about it, yeah. I want to see that.”
Perhaps she was referring to the Darwin Martin House in Buffalo, designed by the famed American architect. A formal schedule of tour stops were planned for Friday, and both state and local tourism leaders were ready to assist and educate their visitors.
“Our new friends will be disembarking to see our Buffalo AKG museum, our historical sites, our Naval and Military Park, along with a walkthrough at the architectural legend Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House, thanks to our Visit Buffalo leadership,” said Joan Kesner, chair of the New York State agency Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation.
The American Patriot is the newest ship being utilized by the company American Cruise Lines, which offers cruises exploring the Great Lakes. This ship’s arrival in Buffalo is part of a cruise which began with a land tour of the Erie Canal in Syracuse, then shoving off at Oswego on a course which took the American Patriot toward the Thousands Islands then back west, through the Welland Canal, and then into Buffalo.
Governor Kathy Hochul, in a prepared statement, touted this as a fruit of her administration’s commitment to the Great Lakes. The statement reads in part: “We are proving once again that Buffalo is a premier destination, and with our future cruise terminal on the horizon, the best is yet to come for the Great Lakes.”
It’s the first of seven scheduled stops by a cruise ship in Buffalo this summer season.
“Buffalo has always had what visitors want: authentic architecture, world-class cultural institutions, natural wonders, and exceptional food. The world is now experiencing it through cruise ships,” said Patrick Kaler, president and chief executive officer of Visit Buffalo.
The price of this particular nine-day cruise, according to the American Cruise Lines website, starts at around $8,400. A Buffalo-to-Milwaukee cruise costs closer to $13,000.
What’s the appeal to those taking these trips? Gary Studenic likes the freedom to explore at each port.
“We've been to a lot of different places that we would have never gone to, because they go someplace and they dock, and then you go off and you can get on a bus or whatever, and go to see different things,” he said.
As for Buffalo food, BTPM asked the Studenics if they would be trying chicken wings.
“Is that…? Oh yeah, Buffalo wings!” Betty replied. “Yeah, we’ll have to do that.”
