CLEVELAND — It may be September, but the Great Lakes cruise season is still in full swing; the last stop for the season will be in mid-October. On Wednesday, leaders from the industry gathered in front of the just-docked, 210-passenger Pearl Mist to talk about what has been one of the best Great Lakes cruise seasons yet.

"We'll have 53 calls at the end of this year, that's a record for us," said Dave Gutheil, Interim President of the Port of Cleveland. "50 already on the schedule for next year, with still a couple of vessels that haven't finalized their schedule. So to continue to see the growth that we've experienced over the last eight years since we've been doing this is really gratifying."

The event was organized by Cruise the Great Lakes, the industry's marketing arm, which said the

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