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Cruise Ships good for Main Street, local businesses say

"A Cruise ship this size will double or triple our business for the day. So that's good? That's very good, good for our drivers, good for us," said Merritt.

ROCKLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine- One of the world’s elegant cruise ships spent Tuesday in Maine. The Queen Mary 2—more than 1,100 feet long—dropped anchor in Rockland Harbor.

The huge ship is on a voyage from New York to Quebec, and Rockland was her only port of call in New England. The ship carries well over two thousand passengers, many of whom went on shore to explore mid-coast Maine. Chris Merritt, owner of Schooner Bay Taxi, was helping passengers get their rides to Camden as they left the ship.

“A Cruise ship this size will double or triple our business for the day. So that’s good? That’s very good, good for our drivers, good for us,” said Merritt.

Cruise ships have stirred local controversy in Rockland this year, as some people want to restrict the number of large ship visits. But most businesses that talked to News Center Maine, including Jeff Hill of Hill Seafood Company , a Main Street restaurant, said the ship visits provide a good one-day boost to their incomes .

"Yes, we understand they might not visit the local barbershop or something like that,” said Hill, “but for restaurants it definitely helps them. And I don’t think we will ever become (as busy as) Bar Harbor or Portland.”

Rockland is currently studying how it handles cruise ships. The city council passed a temporary ordinance to limit large ship visits to no more than six per year. That number is more than Rockland has ever had in one season. City leaders have said the ordinance could change after the study is completed.

The Queen Mary 2 is one of only two large ships scheduled to visit Rockland this year.

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