NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – City Cruises Norfolk celebrating its 45th season with a relaunch.
Beginning Tuesday, guests will be able to book dining and sightseeing experiences aboard the City Cruise vessels, The Spirit and The Elite yacht.
“We have a new vessel that we brought into the market, that’s been fully renovated. We have new menus we have craft cocktails. We have some specialty cruises,” said Jolene Price Thompson, General Manager of City Cruises Norfolk. “We are just excited to bring people back on the boat, so they can have amazing experiences with us!”
This Spring, city cruises will offer lunch or dinner cruises with special drinks and live music. On Sundays, crews will offer brunch cruise with unlimited mimosas and a buffet.
or an after dark cruise during the weekend.
City Cruises Norfolk will offer a variety of experiences throughout the Spring season. Some of the experiences include Signature Dining Cruises, After Dark Dance Cruise, and more.
For a full list of the experiences, visit the City Cruises Norfolk website.
Last June, the Spirit of Norfolk was destroyed by a fire. More than 100 people were on board, most of them students during an end of the school year celebration. No one was injured, however, the vessel was considered a total loss after the fire. Two months after the fire, the Spirit of Mount Vernon was renovated to replace the Spirit of Norfolk.
“Our team is very grateful and very proud of what the crew did on that day, how they responded on that day. The local mariners that were on the water who assisted us,”
In January, during the Spirit of Norfolk formal hearings the Captain said he did not make any announcements because of the number of kids on board. However, Jason Sleeth a parent says he wanted an announcement. “The children knew what was going on from seeing all the smoke. They knew something was wrong. I think it would have been more beneficial for us, said Sleeth “
Price-Thompson tells 10 On Your Side the crews will continue to make sure passengers are in good hands.
“Safety is our top priority and we have always maintained all regulations, all protocols, required of us from the coast guard and the mariner world.”
The General Manager said the staff learned a lot from the experience and will now focus on gratitude.
“There was a lot of emotion tied to past years but we’re not staying there, we are continuing to look toward the future!”
She adds is it a “long process” to get the name changed.
“There is so many memories that folks have on these vessels,” said Price-Thompson. “We have been here for so long. Everybody has a story to tell about their time on Spirit and we want to celebrate that and invite people to come back and cruise with us.”
