Port of Seattle Director of Cruise and Marketing, Mike McLaughlin, Retires – Cruise Industry News

Port of Seattle’s longtime director of maritime cruises and marketing Mike McLaughlin has retired, according to the port’s press release.

During his 36 year tenure, McLaughlin was responsible for “spearheading the construction of cruise facilities and the overall growth of cruise operations for the Port of Seattle,” the port wrote. His endeavors included the construction of Terminal 30 in the early 2000s, which housed the first large cruise ships to reach Alaska in record times.

Larger and faster cruise lines enabled the Port of Seattle to break into the lucrative Alaskan market and paved the way for the opening of the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Terminal 91 in 2009 – the first two-berth facility to provide shore power for two people is equipped ships. At about the same time, a 10-year preferential use agreement was signed with Carnival Corporation to use the facility.

In the years that followed, McLaughlin, in collaboration with the world’s major cruise brands, developed steady passenger growth through port facilities, the Port of Seattle wrote. His efforts culminated in a public-private partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line for their use of the renovated Pier 66 cruise terminal.

The project includes an expansion of the cruise terminal by three times the number of square meters with the same building footprint. Norwegian Cruise Line will resume cruises there on August 7th. Efforts are already being made to provide shore power there for the 2023 cruise season.

Prior to the pandemic, the Port of Seattle had seen over a million revenue passengers – and more – boarding cruises to Alaska on increasingly larger cruise lines for several consecutive years, he wrote. According to the port, these are the direct results of a team effort led by McLaughlin over the past 15 years that has made the port of Seattle the “largest cruise home port on the west coast.” According to the port in North America, the cruise market in Alaska ranks second after the Caribbean.

“I’m very proud of the advances the Port of Seattle has made in the cruise business – from groundbreaking agreements with Carnival Corporation and Norwegian Cruise Line to introducing environmental innovations in the form of shore power to our facilities – and I am honored to have been part of it that happened, ”said McLaughlin.

He added that he looked forward to visits with family, including a granddaughter, as well as more trips – including a possible cruise or two.