Maine - General Photo Thread

I agree TC, the photos in PWM's baggage claim are getting a little dated. I will run the idea of replacing them through the Jetport director once 201 Federal Street is added to the skyline. This particular shot would look great on the overhang as you enter baggage claim.
 
Portlander said:
I agree TC, the photos in PWM's baggage claim are getting a little dated. I will run the idea of replacing them through the Jetport director once 201 Federal Street is added to the skyline. This particular shot would look great on the overhang as you enter baggage claim.
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Dude, I'm serious that I will pay for the photo (the one I mentioned). I've talked to Dave before. He will give me a discount if it's for a good cause. And this is a GREAT cause, selling Maine.
 
After reviewing some of Maine Imaging's more recent aerials, the ones you mentioned with Portland Headlight in the foreground, downtown Portland in the center with Mt Washington in the background are stunning. That vantage point really sums up Greater Portland perfectly!
 
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Took this photo in 2018 and I actually miss some of these impressive cruise ships being tied up on the Portland waterfront. Hopefully they'll return in the near future.
 
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Portlander said:
After reviewing some of Maine Imaging's more recent aerials, the ones you mentioned with Portland Headlight in the foreground, downtown Portland in the center with Mt Washington in the background are stunning. That vantage point really sums up Greater Portland perfectly!
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Can you post the link(s) to those fuller sizes pictures? I scanned the site but didn't find anything.
 
Portlander said:
Took this photo in 2018 and I actually miss some of these impressive cruise ships being tied up on the Portland waterfront. Hopefully they'll return in the near future.
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I've always had mixed feelings about the massive cruise ships. On the one hand it seems obvious that dropping off 4,000 people for the day would be a financial boon for local businesses. But there was a study done on how much cruise ship passengers were actually spending in town and it was much less than you might expect. Basically they were getting a lobster roll and a t-shirt and going back on the ship to gorge themselves at the buffet line for dinner. And many were hopping on shuttle busses to Freeport and Kennebunkport for the day.

And while the ships are impressive marvels of design and engineering, I never love watching the thick plume of exhaust spew out as they idle in port all day. My understanding is they're allowed to discharge treated wastewater close to shore and to dump raw sewage into the ocean once they're more than 3 miles offshore. There are also widely documented concerns about the treatment of cruise ship staff, who are basically treated like the 3rd class passengers on the Titanic...

So whether we get the big ones here again I'm ambivalent about. That said I would love to see regular ferry service on the waterfront if someone could find a route that made sense. It was great to see the Scotia Prince or the Cat come and go on schedule, but my understanding is there just isn't the same market for that trip to Nova Scotia that there used to be.
 
Max said:
But there was a study done on how much cruise ship passengers were actually spending in town and it was much less than you might expect.
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All the more reason to accommodate Roux and all the startups that will move to town as a result - especially as they turn into legitimate businesses and put down roots here. Sure we'll still have tourists coming for the restaurant scene, but tech folks with money to spend would be great for the whole area. All we gotta do to start is let them put up a couple tall buildings and ignore the "don't let the feel of the city change" folks.
 
The Roux institute is a game changer by creating skilled labor positions and bringing students from all over the world. I would not be surprised if the greater Portland area's populations accelerates similar to Boston in the next 20-30 years. The secret is gone, Portland is the place to be....You are close to the beaches and the Mountains, and Boston is only 100 miles away. I am hoping we hear about few more high rise (15 stories or more) residential towers for the surface lots on the peninsula.
 
Portlander said:
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Took this photo in 2018 and I actually miss some of these impressive cruise ships being tied up on the Portland waterfront. Hopefully they'll return in the near future.
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In the run-up to 2020, Royal Caribbean was selling trips out of NYC that would have brought the Oasis of the Seas, one of the world's largest cruise ships (surpassed only by its sisters in the Oasis Class) here. They dropped Portland from those itineraries shortly before Covid happened, so I've wondered ever since if it actually fits in the Megaberth. I've been on it and it's incredible.
 
The Portland Ocean Gateway Terminal would be able to accommodate the Oasis of the Seas. The pier can handle a vessel 1200' in length and the Oasis class ships measure 1181' with an impressive draft of only 30 feet for such a large ship. The mega berth has been dredged for 54 feet and the Portland Harbor inner channel is at 35 feet, maybe a little less because of silt build up since the last dredging project. The Oasis class ships measure 213' above the water line which is almost identical to the height of 201 Federal Street! The Quantum of the Seas visited Portland in 2015 and is currently the largest cruise ship to dock pier side and it's length is 1142 feet which is 10' longer than the Queen Mary which held the record previously.
 
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Max said:
So whether we get the big ones here again I'm ambivalent about. That said I would love to see regular ferry service on the waterfront if someone could find a route that made sense. It was great to see the Scotia Prince or the Cat come and go on schedule, but my understanding is there just isn't the same market for that trip to Nova Scotia that there used to be.
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Nova Scotia had a study that said the sort of cruise-ferry that the Scotia Prince was running could be viable. I believe that unfortunately, the folks who attempted to restart that service with the Nova Star may have been undercapitalized, and they didn't know how much they didn't know when they got into the business, which led to issues like cancelling service on some weekends for handling safety equipment. Plus, due to the new requirements under the SOLAS regulations, there were very few ships available to them when they started the service; the Nova Star certainly didn't have the e.g. performance stage, etc. that the Scotia Prince had had. Then there were things that the Nova Scotia government might have imposed, like everyone having to get off the ship in Yarmouth with their bags and clear Customs whether they wanted to or not (although with everyone having to clear through Customs, there was very little time for folks doing an immediate return to actually spend any money in Yarmouth). The last straw was Portland's lack of interest in maintaining the necessary facilities at Ocean Gateway to impound tractor-trailers when required, when the shipping capacity was one of the big things SW NS needed.
 
Thanks statler, I'm going to sent this to my mother who was 10 years old in 1947 and will get a dose of nostalgia from it!
 
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