Crown jewel makes 1st visit

As if the tourism floodgates opened Thursday morning, a crush of visitors with maps and cameras took to the City Market.

They poured out of a white and blue floating skyline that emerged at the foot of the historic district as the Crown Princess, the crown jewel of the Princess Cruises fleet, made her inaugural stop in town. Weighing in at about one-third larger than the typical ship calling the Port of Charleston, the Crown Princess spilled more than 3,000 passengers onto the streets.

State Ports Authority chief executive Jim Newsome swapped plaques with the ship's captain at a morning ceremony marking the occasion. Meanwhile, downtown vendors swapped currency with the tourists.

Kristin Halvorson said she pulled in at 8:45 a.m. to set up jewelry and Indonesian furnishings at the A World Apart stand in the first City Market shed. Had she known about the ship's arrival, she would have arrived much earlier, she said.

"It was already slamming," Halvorson said. "Today has been awesome."

The boost in foot traffic fell in a particularly sleepy week and on a particularly pleasant fall day. Restaurant workers propped open doors, and tour sales staff manned the corners.

Cruise traffic accounts for less than 1 percent of port business and only about 1 percent of annual tourists. They do, however, bring in first-time visitors who generally return, tourism officials contend.

Evelyn Bowers, store manager at the Sunglass Hut on South Market Street, said shoppers filled her store but did more looking than buying. Most paused at the clearance display at the front of the store.

"These are $300 Prada glasses for $180," she said. "But I guess it wasn't clearance enough."

The Crown Princess embarked from Quebec on a 15-day cruise and, by early Thursday evening, had set sail for Florida.

Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or abird@postandcourier.com.