They line the port side balconies, leaning on the rails as longshoremen secure the Celebrity’s cruise ship, the Mercury, to Pier 1 in Astoria Monday.

They wait as U.S. immigration officers secure the doors, the captain lowers a ramp to the dock and the bar pilot disembarks.

Then, they’re here. For one day only, the 1,870 cruise passengers, plus about 900 crew members, pile into the riverfront trolley and shuttle buses and crowd into shops, museums, restaurants and beaches on the North Coast.

About 175 local people have a direct hand in bringing these travelers to Astoria and accommodating them once they arrive. But many more in the region feel the impact of the day-long boost in tourism. And the whole North Coast community contributes to the perception the passengers and crew take with them when they go.

That perception, if positive, could mean increased support for the local economy, said Bruce Conner of Sundial Travel, who leads the effort of coordinating the floating tourists after they dock.

The cruise industry reports passengers spend an average of $125 per couple per day when they leave the ship at a port stop. That’s a potential $110,000 in sales to local businesses ambling down the Mercury’s gangway.

Plus, the Port of Astoria collects $2 a head in anchorage fees from the cruise line to cover mooring costs. The company also pays bar pilot fees, and the crew members drop additional dollars in town when they leave the ship to shop, stock up on snacks or to grab a meal.

And the Mercury was just one of 13 ships to dock in Astoria this year. Others have carried as many as 2,600 passengers and 1,300 crew members.

It does cost money to bring these ships to Astoria. Peter Gearin, director of the Port of Astoria, estimated total costs, including the additional personnel, $5,000 to the city of Astoria for cleanup and security, longshoremen wages and Pier 1 dredging expenses, at about $218,500 for the 2006-07 fiscal year. However, the port still comes out on top, said Gearin, with cruise ship anchorage income and reimbursements topping $250,000.

“We would have to dredge anyway,” said Gearin. “What this does is it pays for the dredging and a $32,000 margin.”

Conner collects $2,000 a month from the port for his services, which start with convincing cruise ships to stop in Astoria as they are traveling along the West Coast between Alaska and Hawaii. Then, he orchestrates a symphony of accommodations to endear the region to the passengers as soon as they step off the ship.

A group of about 100 volunteers is key to convincing visitors that Astoria is a worthwhile stop. Their free service makes an invaluable contribution to the cruise ship effort, said Conner.

Long before the first passengers stepped off the Mercury – the last of the 2006 cruise ships to visit Astoria and the first scheduled to return in 2007 – about 30 volunteers zipped up their matching “Cruise Host” fleece jackets, stacked maps in information booths and armed themselves with visitor guides.

A second shift of 30 cruise hosts was deployed later Monday and stationed themselves strategically along the river walk, at the Liberty Theater, the Astoria Column and the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

When the passengers come off the ship, they are greeted with a smile and a can-do attitude by at least one of the cruise hosts standing at the gate.

Some visitors have already signed up for one of 15 coast excursions, or day trips, some of which go to Seaside, Cannon Beach, Mount St. Helens, the Goonies house, and a set of historic Lewis and Clark locations. These specially designed trips are arranged ahead of time and sold through the cruise line. The cost to local bus companies and tour guides is covered by the cruise line, which turns a profit by raising the price of the trips to passengers. These passengers are the first to be ushered off the cruise ship and into their excursion buses.

Sunset Empire Transportation shuttle buses await the other passengers who, for $5, can ride them and the riverfront trolley all day long. Conner said this fee covers the cost of extending the bus route for the day and usually leaves a little left over for a cruise host thank-you party.

For passengers who prefer more personalized transportation, volunteers have phone numbers for taxicab companies and car rental agencies. Some ambitious travelers have taken rental cars and taxis to the Big Creek Hatcheries, Youngs River falls and Ocean Park, Wash. Others rent bicycles from the Astoria High School Stompers group for $12 an hour.

Marian and Mike Soderberg recruit and organize the volunteers, and they say they collected a core group of cruise hosts in about a day, and about 60 of them serve four-hour shifts on the day a cruise ship comes to port.

“We started with friends, family and the church directory,” said Marian Soderberg. “I think they do it because of the fun we’re having.”

The volunteers have their fingers on the pulse of what cruise passengers are doing on the North Coast, what they want to see, what they buy, what they want to know and what they think when they get back on the ship at the end of the day.

Marian Soderberg said people want to know where they can get beer and wine, a rest room, a drugstore and a place to eat. Crew members love Costco and Deals Only and Kentucky Fried Chicken, while passengers are looking for outlet stores and downtown shops.

They buy everything from weed eaters to bronze sculptures, according to Conner.

“They buy shoes,” said Marian Soderberg.

They make donations at the Liberty Theater, according to Jo Robinson, who volunteers to show them around inside. She has received as much as $155 a day in contributions to the theater restoration effort from cruise ship passengers who spend maybe 10 minutes looking around and using the public rest room.

And they like the friendly attention they get in Astoria.

“They do come back,” said Marian Soderberg. “They buy houses and return for annual vacations and they make this a destination. Some pick the cruise ship and the date that will come here.”

There are 17 cruises scheduled to stop in Astoria in 2007, and bar pilot captains Gary Lewin and Robert Johnson are joining Conner in visits to Seattle, Los Angeles and Miami to market Astoria to additional cruise companies for 2008.

Conner has also been talking to merchants in Ilwaco and Long Beach, Wash., about extending the list of coast excursion trips to the Washington coast, which would offer another incentive for ships to stop in Astoria.

“They’re not just here to see Astoria,” he said. “They’re here for Seaside, Ilwaco, the whole area.”

Conner joined a group of about 100 local people on an exploratory cruise to Alaska and found the cruise host services offered in Astoria are above and beyond those offered at other ports on the Washington and Canadian coasts.

“No one does what our town does,” he said.