Four years ago, Icy Strait Point was just a dot on a map of Alaska's Chichagof Island. Today, thousands of cruise passengers visit there to get acquainted with the native Huna Tlingit population, observe a one-time salmon-canning operation and ride the world's longest zip line.
Icy Strait Point is one of many emerging ports in today's cruising world. It's a brand new port, built from scratch, as are several others. But most emerging ports are existing ones just now becoming popular ports of call as cruise lines widen their itineraries.
The reason? Veteran passengers are looking for destinations they haven't visited, said Giora Israel, vice president of strategic planning for Carnival Corp.
"A second aspect is the sheer number of new ships," which are overwhelming some existing ports, he said. "St. Thomas can only handle five ships at one time."
Those pressures are pushing cruise lines to look for alternate ports of call. The result is that passengers now can visit many ports that in the past rarely saw a major passenger ship.
Kotor, for instance, is the gateway to Slovenia and its lovely alpine country; Zadar to the unspoiled beauty of the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Puerto Chacabuco gives access to Chile's stunning fjord country, Savona to the charms of the Italian Riviera, Vigo to historic Santiago di Campostela in northern Spain. Tampico and Vera Cruz on Mexico's Gulf Coast expose leisure passengers to the charms of two historic port cities.
In Australia, some ships now stop at Hobart in Tasmania, home of the Tasmanian devil and of ecological preserves. And in neighboring New Zealand, cruisers now may call at Wellington, the country's capital.
Still other less-frequented ports will be making their way onto cruise itineraries in the next five years.
China, looking ahead to hosting the Summer Olympics in 2008, is ratcheting up its maritime facilities. Tianjin is the main port serving inland Beijing, site of the Games, but two other northern China ports, Dalian and Qingdao, are building new cruise terminals.
Another emerging Chinese port is Xiamen, situated between Shanghai and Hong Kong. Among its attractions: Gulangyu Island, where no motor vehicles are allowed.
In the Caribbean, demand is so strong that entirely new ports are being created.
Seven years ago, Costa Maya was a quiet little fishing village on the Yucatan's southern Caribbean coast. Cruise ships passed it by to get to Cozumel and Cancun, farther north on Mexico's coast. But in early 2001, a pier large enough to hold three cruise ships was opened.
