A visit by Ponant’s Le Bellot on Sunday, Oct. 13 – which docked at Pier Wisconsin not long after dawn and departed in the early evening – officially ended Milwaukee’s cruise ship season and Port Milwaukee says the number of passengers on cruises this year nearly matched a record amount.
Seven vessels made 27 calls at the port this season, carrying 13,568 passengers. That is an increase over a record nine vessels carrying 11,502 passengers during 30 calls in 2023, but falls just short of 2022’s 13,611 cruise passengers on eight ships that made 33 calls.
Consider that in 2019 cruise ships made just 10 Milwaukee stops.
“Port Milwaukee remains a premier destination on the global cruising map,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “This year’s successful season is a reflection of the hard work of Port staff and our partners. As we look at 2025 and beyond, I am confident Port Milwaukee will continue to reinforce its role as an essential economic resource for the City of Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
“The importance of cruise passengers is reflected in my proposed capital budget. We are investing $5-million in a new cruise ship facility, and we are optimistic that will attract even more visitors.”
Johnson’s 2025 Proposed Budget includes the final funding piece for the South Shore Cruise Dock, which has been in the works for a number of years. Now, the dock is expected to be ready to welcome passengers for the 2026 cruise season.
But even before that, Milwaukee can expect more cruisers to arrive because Victory Cruise Lines’ Victory I will call on Milwaukee again beginning next year after a seven-year break.
That ship carries about 200 passengers.
“The success of the 2024 cruise season demonstrates Port Milwaukee’s role as an economic powerhouse for Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin,” said President of the Board of Harbor Commissioners Tim Hoelter. “The Port’s momentum as a Great Lakes cruising destination is a gateway to continued growth for our city, and we expect to see our growth persist in the years to come.”
“Port Milwaukee is excited about the success of the 2024 cruise season, and grateful for the potential opportunity to grow that success with the new Seawaymax cruise dock,” added Port Director Jackie Q. Carter.
“Having a dedicated space for Seawaymax cruise ships, outside of the commercial cargo space, will support our efforts to grow the tourism side of our business, generating revenue for the City and contributing to services for Milwaukee residents.”
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
