Cruise ship has arrived in Gloucester, Mass

Cruise ship has arrived in Gloucester, Mass

As many as 30 vessels are expected to visit the historic fishing port this year, starting today with Holland America's 1,258-passenger Maasdam. This year it’s up from fewer than a dozen ships last year 1010 and just two in 2009.

The attraction is the town…It's an authentic place.

It's a true working port; the views aren't of beautiful yachts on the harbor. It's of working fishing boats.

Gloucester is no stranger to tourism, its best known for the setting for the dramatic disaster movie The Perfect Storm, which was based on the story of a local fishing boat and its crew. Weekend visitors from nearby Boston and beyond have helped fuel a boom in restaurants and shops around its waterfront in recent years.  It's a New England, year-round community, and it’s got a real small town experience.

In Gloucester you can sit out on a deck at a restaurant overlooking the harbor, eat a just-caught lobster and watch the fishing boats glide by with seagulls swirling behind them.

The fish come in every morning at 4 am, and every restaurant in town offers a daily fresh catch.

The 23 cruise ship calls already scheduled for Gloucester this year include at least half a dozen visits by American Cruise Lines' American Glory, a small luxury vessel that carries just 120 passengers. But the lineup also includes multiple calls from one of Holland America's largest ships, the 2,104-passenger Eurodam and luxury line Regent Seven Seas' 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator.

Additional ship visits may be in the works, but not yet officially announced, could push the total number of calls for the year beyond 30.

The smaller ships can dock right at the waterfront. The bigger ships have to anchor off shore, with passengers ferried by tenders.