The Connecticut Cruise Ship Task Force was set up to attract cruise ships to Connecticut ports along with all the economic benefits they bring with them. Naturally they were excited when they finally secured a call at New London by Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. At 138,000 tons, and one of the largest cruise ships in the world, it is the largest ever to visit New London.
The Navy and Ft. Turnbull are major parts of the community. As part of the celebration of Explorer's arrival on Saturday (Sept 1), the task force asked the Navy to fire an 11-gun salute with their cannon as Explorer arrives as they have done for eleven other cruise ship calls the task force has been instrumental in securing.
The Day reports that the Navy has declined the request this time. It turns out that the task force might be a victim of their own success. The Navy says that their regulations allow the cannons to be fired for exceptional occasions. It seems that because this is the twelfth cruise ship call, the Navy doesn't consider it an exceptional occasion anymore.
According to The Day, it's creating a lot of hard feeling in town, but as far as Explorer's passengers go, we doubt they will notice there isn't cannon fire when they arrive.
