Pearl Seas Cruises’ Pearl Mist ship has moored at Pier Wisconsin near Discovery World for the first of five port calls in Milwaukee this season.
The Pearl Mist docked in Milwaukee this morning carrying just over 180 passengers and 65 crew. Passengers will disembark this afternoon to make way for another 180 to board tomorrow in time for the ship’s 3 p.m. port departure.
The ship travels between Milwaukee and Toronto stopping at 11 ports on its journey south and 10 ports on its journey north. Since 2019, Pearl Mist has been making turnarounds in Milwaukee after switching from a port in Chicago to better accommodate its passenger demographic, said Kristen Lambert, Pearl Mist operations manager.
Pearl Seas and the city of Milwaukee have signed a 10-year agreement to dock at Pier Wisconsin a minimum of five times per season.
“Once we visited Milwaukee, we couldn’t go back to Chicago just based off of the feedback, the accessibility, and the proximity of all the destinations (including) the museums and the (Milwaukee) Public Market,” said Lambert.
Passengers on board the Pearl Mist come from all over the country including California, Texas and Florida and are mostly “seasoned travelers” with an average age of 76 years old, according to Lambert.
Pearl Mist serves as Pearl Seas Cruises’ only international ship and is experiencing one of its busiest seasons yet this year.
This year Port Milwaukee, which serves as a turnaround port for many Great Lakes cruise ship voyages, is expecting 22 port calls from six different cruise ship vessels, bringing about 11,000 passengers to the city. That’s down from 27 port calls and 13,568 cruise ship passengers in 2024.
More articles about cruise ships in Milwaukee:
- Viking Octantis returns to Port Milwaukee to begin the 2025 cruise season
- Great Lakes passenger cruises expected to draw record numbers in 2025
- Cruise ship passenger visits to Milwaukee up 18% last year
- 2024 cruise ship season in Milwaukee ends
