“Dock at the Depot” event welcomes cruise-goers to Duluth

Tourists from the Viking Octantis were welcomed to Duluth on Monday by the “Dock at the Depot” event.

“We found out about those cruisers coming, and we knew that they weren’t going to have a lot of time getting to our local businesses, and we felt like we could have a great spot for them to connect with our artisans and makers in town and inside in a perfect location,” said Marketing and Event Coordinator Stacey DeRoche. “We’ve got coffee for them. We’ve got t shirts and souvenirs and anything you can think of.”

Guests at the Depot were able to explore the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, Duluth Art Institute, and St. Louis County Historical Society exhibits while getting to see a selection of local businesses. This is the third “Dock at the Depot” event.

“We’ve kind of tweaked them every time to try to make sure that we’ve got what these cruise ship passengers want and what they’re excited about in our town,” said DeRoche. “I mean, they love the aerial lift bridge. They love being here. They love Duluth. All of our vendors have tailored what they’re bringing to what the cruise ship passengers want.”

Many of the people aboard the viking cruise ship are in Duluth for the very first time.

“It’s really fun for us to see anybody who comes to visit us here at the depot, but it’s really been awesome to talk to people who are from Albuquerque and Texas and New York and all over the country,” said DeRoche.

With fair weather and a warm welcome from the Depot, the cruise-goers were glad to come to Duluth.

“I had no idea what to expect, but whatever I expected, it exceeded expectations.”