Rich Stivrins feels great to be back on the water.
The captain of the Chief Commanda II cruise ship located at North Bay's government dock off Memorial Drive has a big smile this summer - appreciating his job since last year COVID-19 put the cruise season on ice.
"We can now have passengers on board. I know we were shut down all of last year which was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever had to make, but with the landscape last summer it was the move we had to make," explains Stivrins.
"We were limited to a group of 10 which including our five crew so we would have had to operate through the bulk of July with five passengers on board which just is not enough to cover the costs."
When Stivrins realized they would be back in business this summer, he celebrated by taking his one-year-old son on a cruise with his colleagues.
"We checked things out and cranked the tunes and enjoyed the cruise on the way over from Callander," he said.
"It is nice to get back to normal and get back to the experiences we are used to."
Stivrins says there are still limits on capacity now, which only allows passengers to come inside to use the bathroom facility. He expects that will change once Ontario enters Stage 3 of the re-opening.
"This year with the new reopening plan capacity is up significantly over that which started at 25 per cent capacity so we can put 80 passengers on board so it will be great to just get out and get people back on the lake," he said.
Now Stivrins says the phone is ringing off the hook as people want to get back to the Chief Commanda II cruises.
"For a lot of people the Chief is kind of the first sign of summer," said Stivrins.
For more information on cruises click HERE
