Victory Cruise Lines Adds Erie to 2028 Great Lakes Voyage

Victory Cruise Lines will add Erie, Pennsylvania, to a new Great Lakes Voyage in 2028, with the first ship scheduled to arrive July 21, 2028. The itinerary is planned to take passengers across all five Great Lakes and the eight states that border them, making Erie a day-call port for the line’s 190-passenger ships.

The addition follows years of discussions and more than 18 months of local planning, with Erie officials saying the call can be handled at existing bayfront facilities without a major port investment. Officials did not release a full Erie call schedule or an economic-impact estimate.

Shelly Hartfield, vice president of destination development for Victory Cruise Lines, said Victory would be the first line to combine the five lakes and all eight bordering states in one voyage. “Erie will play a major role in that,” Hartfield said.

Holland Street dock will handle the call

Passengers are scheduled to dock at the foot of Holland Street and spend the day ashore. Local stops identified for cruise visitors include the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, Presque Isle Lighthouse, Bayfront Maritime Museum, Hagen History Center, Romolo’s Chocolates and other Erie-area destinations.

Interim VisitErie President and CEO Mark Jeanneret welcomed the addition. “It brings an audience of tourism to town and, frankly, tourists we wouldn’t otherwise be able to attract,” Jeanneret said.

The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority already maintains commercial dockage and deep-draft facilities along the bayfront. “We are very excited. It’s not going to require a major investment from a port perspective,” said Julie Slomski, executive director of the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority. “The ship will be docked right here.”

Erie County Executive Christina Vogel said residents will not see a tax increase tied to the cruise calls because the facility is already in place. Victory Cruise Lines will pay a docking fee to the Port Authority and cover the associated costs.

Planning began with Victory’s 2025 Erie visit

Victory officials first visited Erie in March 2025 to see the destination and meet with Port Authority officials. Hartfield said the work then centered on building an itinerary that could include Erie, with the all-lakes, all-states route becoming the opening for the port.

Victory’s two identical ships, Victory I and Victory II, are listed for Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway and French-Canadian Maritimes service.

Victory’s published cruise program also includes East Coast ports ranging from Portland, Maine, to Jacksonville, Florida, along with Chicago and Canadian destinations. The company lists fares from $5,000 to $15,000 across its cruise products; pricing for the new Great Lakes Voyage was not disclosed.

Before the first ship arrives, Vogel said the remaining local work is to complete a safety plan and “get all the pieces in place.”