Philadelphia: the city of brotherly love appeals to visitors of varied tastes - If You Only Have A Day In

Cruise Travel, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Molly Arost Staub

Even before New York City's devastating tragedy of September 11, 2001, Philadelphians were transforming their city into a major cruise facility. "When the federal government closed down the former Navy Yard, they handed it to the city," said Melissa Grimm, director of the Port of Philadelphia & Camden. In 1997 its transformation into a cruise terminal began. The next year, the Delaware River Port Authority started investing $11 million to revitalize and enhance its ship facilities. The new passenger terminal, housed in all 1874 built red-brick building listed in the National Register of Historic Places, had been a machine shop in the Navy Yard. P & O's Aurora, Celebrity's Horizon, and then-Crown Cruise Line's Crown Dynasty soon started to call at the refurbished port.

So the Port of Philadelphia was ready to offer assistance following 9/11, when 12 returning Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise ships couldn't dock at New York's piers because those facilities were needed for eight weeks to bring in emergency personnel and equipment to the World Trade Center site and help remove many injured. Since Philadelphia's security systems were in place, and its stevedores and parking arranged, the city could accept those cruise liners. Additionally, Philly welcomed four other cruises and four port-calls. Passengers and crews were impressed with the helpfulness and friend ship they found in the "City of Brotherly Lowe."

Besides these practical issues, the declining economy plus some vacationers' fears about airplanes caused countless numbers to avoid flying. Cruise line executives quickly got the message--they began expanding their "drive-it" ports. One solution: Philadelphia is within a five-and-a-half-hour drive of one-fourth of the country's population. And the overwhelming patriotic feelings when our country was attacked led many to search for our nation's origins. Philadelphia answers many of these needs. Hailed as oar nation's birthplace, the city boasts much original Revolutionary architecture and documents, along with an abundance of cultural venues and lots of funky attractions, whether for a port-call or a pre or post-cruise stay.

Cruise itineraries from Philadelphia mainly include Bermuda and the Caribbean, and occasionally New England and Canada About 17 cruises were scheduled for 2003, on such ships as Carnival Cruise Lines 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend, Celebrity Cruises' 1,354-passenger Horizon, Clipper Cruise Line's 122-passenger Clipper Adventurer, Hapag Lloyd's 408-passenger Europa and 188-passenger Hanseatic, Holland America Line's 794-passenger Prinsendam, Norwegian Cruise Line's 1,518-passenger Norwegian Sea, Princess Cruises' 1,590-passenger Regal Princess, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises" 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator, Royal Caribbean International's 2,100-passenger Serenade of the Seas, Seabourn Cruise Line's 208-passenger Seabourn Pride, and Silversea Cruises' 382-passenger Silver Whisper. Cruises and port-calls will double for 2004. (To emphasize the importance of Philadelphia's maritime capacity, the Finnish shipbuilder Kvaerner launched its U.S. shipbuilding facility at the Navy Yard.)

The city, of course, developed as an important colonial shipping center; its waterfront played a crucial role during the Revolutionary period. Here the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were penned. Philadelphia was the new country's, principal city. Although the U. S. government under the Constitution began in New, York City in 1789, Philadelphia became the temporary capitol in 1790 for a decade while the new Federal city was being built in Washington, D.C.

Start your day in Philadelphia with a visit to the Independence National Historical Park. First stop just outside the park at the Independence Visitor Center, where costumed re-enactors field questions in character. (Modern English answers are also available.) Two films here use different approaches as well: Independence describes the history of and orientation to the national park, while Choosing Sides, produced by the History Channel, targets school age kids an teens with a hip version of the Revolution.

In the completed complex, this red-brick building links the new sparkling white Constitution Center (the world's first museum honoring the American Revolution) and the glass Liberty Bell Center. The latter (scheduled to open this fall) is a new home built for America's major symbol of freedom; it is sited so that the bell may be seen against the sky rather than against a background of 20th-century buildings.

The huge bell with its gigantic crack always awes visitors. Although most people assume it cracked during the Revolution, it actually happened either during its sailing to Philadelphia from London, where it was cast, or shortly thereafter. The bell was melted down and recast, then rung carefully for special events. It tolled to call citizens to the State House when the Declaration of Independence was first publicly read. The bell became a symbol of liberty when the abolitionist movement used it and its biblical inscription, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof." Philadelphia later became the first free city north of the Mason-Dixon Line and boasted a number of stops on the Underground Railroad.