Hey everyone,

 

A job opportunity is taking my partner and me to the Chicago suburbs at the end of July.  We realized that we have lived in Cleveland for 25+ years and had NEVER been out on Lake Erie.  How did we allow that to happen?

 

Anyway, we learned that friends of ours own a sailboat, so we spent last night out on the Lake.  The weather was perfect and we had an absolutely wonderful time.

 

My pictures are from a cell phone, so they're not the best quality, but I still wanted to share them.  I hope that I do this right!

 

 

Awesome thanks! You are the first person I have seen to capture my favorite view of the skyline, with your first picture. Too bad you didn't have a better camera on you, but still great pictures.

I love the way the city looks from the water. Very very cool.

 

Thanks for posting!!

has always been my fav views!

 

Wow!  Those first two pics make our skyline look huge! Sometimes the unfortunate spacing of the buildings give the 'gap' effect at certain angles, but I don't think Ive ever seen the directions you've captured!  Nice.

Great stuff!

Great! I love Cleveland's position on the lake. It's kind of ridiculous that the city's lakefront doesn't have a long stretch of public parks and beaches. As an Ohioan, I want only the best for Cleveland.

Very nice - I've been out on the Lake via the Goodtime III, but one of these days I'd like to get further out like you did. Great shots!

Thanks for the comments everyone.  A better camera would have been nice, but I was paranoid about dropping things into the lake  :-D  It really was an experience I'll never forget!

Great pictures, and good luck with your new opportunities in Chicago!

Great photos. Hope you get out into Lake Michigan to catch views of that other city's skyline. But you'll never see the sun set on the lake in Chicago like you can here! You do get a nice sunrise over the lake though.

 

The first time I saw that dense view of Cleveland's skyline from the northeast was in 1994 when my family took me for a dinner cruise on the Nautica Queen for my 27th birthday. I tried to get pictures with my 35mm Pentax but they were either too dark or too blurry.

You guys know that the costs to take a Great Lakes cruise are so high that basically only Europeans can afford it?  That's really unfortunate, as I personally would love to experience such a thing.

 

 

Well if you like the view from the Lake guys and gals, this event should be right up your alley.  Dredgers Union is organizing the take over of the Goodtime III the night of august 24th by local bands.  Went to this event last year and it was pretty d@mn amazing.

 

http://dredgersunion.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/roar-along-the-shore-band-line-up-announced-tickets-on-sale-today/

You guys know that the costs to take a Great Lakes cruise are so high that basically only Europeans can afford it?  That's really unfortunate, as I personally would love to experience such a thing.

 

Are you trying to say that Europeans are wealthier than Americans? Have you traveled in Europe??

 

I think a more accurate description is that most Great Lakes cruises aren't marketed to Americans. We Americans don't seem to find the lakes such a natural marvel or so exotic as they do in Europe. It's like the Rhine-Danube cruises which are popular with Americans, but the Europeans wonder what's the big deal.

 

Whenever I bring people who live elsewhere in America to stand at the shore of Lake Erie for the first time, they are blown away. They did not expect to see a freshwater ocean. Many just stand (or sit) and stare for a while. Some speak. Some don't. If they speak, they usually say "wow" or "that's beautiful" or "I had no idea it was so big." :)

You guys know that the costs to take a Great Lakes cruise are so high that basically only Europeans can afford it?  That's really unfortunate, as I personally would love to experience such a thing.

 

Are you trying to say that Europeans are wealthier than Americans? Have you traveled in Europe??

 

I think a more accurate description is that most Great Lakes cruises aren't marketed to Americans. We Americans don't seem to find the lakes such a natural marvel or so exotic as they do in Europe. It's like the Rhine-Danube cruises which are popular with Americans, but the Europeans wonder what's the big deal.

 

Whenever I bring people who live elsewhere in America to stand at the shore of Lake Erie for the first time, they are blown away. They did not expect to see a freshwater ocean. Many just stand (or sit) and stare for a while. Some speak. Some don't. If they speak, they usually say "wow" or "that's beautiful" or "I had no idea it was so big." :)

 

IIRC there were favorable exchange rates that drove Euros here. As you can see below the costs are ridiculous. But I do agree 100 percent that the cruises (and the lakes) aren't marketed well.

 

 

Currently, as far as I can tell, two lines operate cruises within the Great Lakes:

 

    Hapag-Lloyd, the big German shipping line, operates the only real cruise ship on the Great Lakes. After an absence of several years, its MV Columbus is back, this year making a single round-trip from Toronto to Chicago, in September. The ship, holding up to 418 passengers in 203 cabins, was designed specifically to serve the Great Lakes; it's the largest cruise ship able to navigate the limited clearances through the St. Lawrence Seaway and Welland Canal. However, after initially trying to mount a full season, market support was apparently inadequate, and the Columbus didn't operate in the Great Lakes at all in some recent years. This year's rates are high—starting at $3,540 per person for 13 nights, or $272 per night—more than double what you pay on a mass-market cruise line in Alaska, the Caribbean, Mexico, or the Mediterranean.

 

    Blount (formerly American Canadian Caribbean Line) operates three smaller ships with a mix of Great Lakes and river/canal cruises in the United States and Canada. The Grand Caribe, Grand Mariner, and Niagara Prince resemble European river cruise boats rather than cruise ships; they're small (100 passengers) and low-slung, to get under the many bridges they encounter on river and canal cruises. Together, they run a handful of Great Lakes cruises as well as some Great Lakes cruising on canal and river itineraries.

 

http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-advice/great-lakes-cruising.html?id=7758960

The prices are what I would expect for a domestic cruise ship. Currency exchange rates favor Europeans right now, which is great for the cruise operators because I don't see many Americans taking a cruise on the Great Lakes. Like I said, I think Americans don't know/appreciate the scale, variety and beauty of the Great Lakes.

I don't see many Americans taking a cruise on the Great Lakes

 

At least not at those prices they won't.