‘It is much friendlier here than on the boat’ cruise passengers stranded in Haines, sheltered by locals

Passengers Natasha Dioril and Cindy Maestas wait in the Chilkat Center Wednesday evening, Sept. 17, 2025. (Will Steinfeld/Chilkat Valley News)

By Will Steinfeld

Chilkat Valley News

In some respects, Wednesday wasn’t Haines at its best. 

Roughly 250 Holland America cruise ship passengers were met on shore by rain blown sideways by gusting wind. Then, after cold, wet tours, many sat inside tenders knocking against the dock, or waited on the dock itself, until they were told they wouldn’t be heading back to their boat, the Nieuw Amsterdam. 

But by the end, there was wine, music, cookies, and hot chocolate: a scene some passengers compared to disaster responses they had seen on TV. But it was also one many passengers and locals said was a reminder of the best Haines has to offer. 

The trouble started before the Nieuw Amsterdam arrived in town, with storms up and down the coast in recent days. From Whittier, passengers said they had been cooped up on the boat with outside decks closed at times due to rough weather. 

A scheduled stop in Skagway was derailed by Wednesday’s storm, forcing the ship to redirect to Haines to avoid overcrowding in port. 

By Wednesday morning, with previous excursions cancelled, some passengers were eager to get to land. One group talked about missing an eight hour trip to the Yukon territory that had been planned out of Skagway. Another mentioned a rockslide that cut short a train ride on the McKinley Explorer in Denali. 

“There hasn’t been one day that things that were planned happened,” Dutch passenger Simon Meijer said. “We’ve skipped all the harbors and excursions. We were tired of the boat. We were determined to get to shore.” 

Conditions through the morning were comparatively calm. But through the afternoon the wind increased dramatically, with gusts in town recorded at 49 miles per hour just before 5 p.m. 

Greg and Trudy Breaux of Baton Rouge were able to board the tender but remained stationary inside, the tender tied up and banging against the dock. They waited for about half an hour and then were informed they would not be able to return to the ship for another three hours. 

Others were only just arriving at the cruise ship dock when they saw their ship sailing out of sight to take shelter in Lutak Inlet. Passengers said they were not immediately informed. 

“It was quite a moment seeing the boat leave without us,” said passenger Cindy Maestas. 

The decision on the weather delay, said port manager Leslie Ross, was ultimately made by Holland America. 

Ross, who works for port logistics contractor Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska, said she does training exercises for emergency management situations, including some alongside borough staff. So when the company made the call to delay re-boarding passengers, she quickly opened the Chilkat Center as an emergency shelter. 

Much of the initial response, however, came about organically. Ross reached out to the borough administration, but also to public radio station KHNS, which is housed in the Chilkat Center. KHNS staff began preparing the building and also put out a call over the air for help from the public. 

As passengers began arriving up Tower Road, they were met by Haines residents with contributions: a hairdryer from Suzanne Vuillet Smith to help them get warm, coffee from the Port Chilkoot bible church next door, and spare clothes from attics and basements. Other local flavors included granola bars and hot chocolate from nearby houses, plus two boxes of wine courtesy of Annette Smith. 

Tom Heywood showed up with his guitar for an impromptu show in the Chilkat Center auditorium, and around 50 passengers watched him play. Many commented on how easily he threw together a set — though one or two took advantage of the dimmed auditorium lights to quietly snore through the show in the back row. 

Meanwhile, back at the dock, Salvation Army staff brought supplies to some 30 crew members who had to stay behind minding the tenders. 

By 6 p.m., volunteers had taken care of basic needs, enough to start soliciting individual requests from stranded passengers. A request for non-dairy milk to go with the hot chocolate was quickly delivered by mayor Tom Morphet. 

“I’m sure these folks would do the same if we got stuck in their town,” Morphet said.

Passengers thanked and applauded local volunteers, but some questioned how they ended up in the situation in the first place. 

Passenger Kimberly Berry said she works professionally in emergency management in San Francisco. 

“I’m trying not to be in work mode, but I do have questions,” Berry said. “This is the same storm that kept us out of Skagway. Why did they let us off the boat?”

Holland America did not make anyone available for an interview but emailed a statement saying the ship had encountered unexpected, severe wind gusts of up to 65 knots.

Still, passengers were universally appreciative of Haines residents, including Berry, who said the moments of humanity in town made all the difference during a week made difficult by national events. 

“My husband is from a small town,” Berry said. “He was telling me, ‘this is how it works in a small town.’” 

After being able to chat with residents, David Haydon of Florida was taken aback by the stories he heard about life in Haines. 

“One lady I talked to said she has to walk a mile between her house and her car,” Hayden said, wondering aloud how the resident in question carried her groceries. “People here want solitude. It’s amazing.”

But in fact, residents who pitched in said they valued demonstrating essentially the opposite.

Sarah Miller, of Alaska Mountain Guides, drove a shuttle from morning until past dark. On the one hand, she said, she was exhausted. But also grateful to be a part of the effort. 

“I talk to people a lot about how everyone is an individual in this town, but we don’t leave anyone behind,” Miller said. “Today I got to show that part of town that I talk about so much.”

Passengers were shuttled back to the boat around 9:p.m., Port Chilkoot Bible Church minister Matt Jones said. 

Until that happened, there were plenty of dejected, sick, and tired faces to be found in the makeshift emergency shelter. But it wasn’t hard to find positivity either, including in some roundabout ways.  

“It is much friendlier here than on the boat,” Meijer, the Dutch passenger said. It was his and his wife’s first cruise, and, he added, likely their last. All things considered, he said, the night in Haines was probably the best of the trip.

• This story originally appeared in the Chilkat Valley News.