The Crystal Symphony docked at the Unalaska Marine Center at sunrise on Sunday. (Liam Andersen/KUCB)

Unalaska got its first taste of a record cruise ship season on Sunday.

Around a thousand tourists and crew disembarked from the Crystal Symphony to stretch their legs and do some exploring. And as KUCB’s Annie Ropeik reports, some were surprised by what they found.

The Crystal Symphony arrived in Unalaska Sunday morning, after five days crossing the North Pacific. And the early risers went straight to the local cultural sites -- namely, the town’s two museums and the historic Russian Orthodox Church.

Since it was Sunday, they couldn’t go inside. But one man from Vancouver, who didn’t give his name, found something to do in the parking lot: 

"To have the church with a bald eagle on the top is the icing on the cake," he said.

He said he’d photographed eagles in Alaska before, but Unalaska seemed to be a hotspot: "This is my fourth one this morning and I’ve been off the ship for about 20 minutes," he said. 

Unalaska was the Crystal Symphony’s first stop in-state on this cruise, though it’s called here in past with fewer people aboard. Some of this group, like Jan from North Queensland, Australia, were surprised by the scenery.

"It looks like the hills around have been painted -- they don’t even look real," she said. "Where we come from, it’s tropical, and all our mountains are filled with flowering trees. Nothing like this. It’s just so totally different." 

Jan left behind summer in Australia for a cool, windy spring in Unalaska. And so did Liz Johnson and her husband. Before heading over to a crab boil at a local bar, they stopped in at one of the town's few stores: Alaska Ship Supply.

"[We're] just looking around here for something to buy," she said. "A souvenir." 

"I’m buying a T-shirt that says 'fillet and release,' rather than 'catch and release,'" said her husband, who declined to give his name. "I think it’s fantastic. I love it."

Ship Supply store manager Erik Hanson sells a lot of shirts like that on cruise ship days.

"We’ve seen a lot of people through here today, and hopefully later on, we see the crew from the boat come in," he said. "They usually get quite a bit, just stocking up. Instead of getting T-shirts, they’re buying snacks and food for the trip -- more like what townspeople would buy." 

That's also the kind of business Hanson usually sees from the state ferry by this time of year. But the Tustumena has been delayed in shipyard. It's now set to arrive May 23.  

That means the Unalaska visitor’s bureau is focused on cruise ships right now. On Sunday, board member Vickie Longan was posted outside the ship at the city dock, handing out maps and helping with transportation for passengers -- mostly, on school buses.

"We’re not geared to tourism, so they’re seeing actually our lives," she said.

Cathy Jordan, the executive director of the visitor’s bureau, said her volunteer tour guides had to get creative when they ran out of things to do.

"So they were driving ‘em around ... down through the boat harbors and stuff like that, and then back down so they could see the big crane, and talking about what goes on around here," she said. "[The passengers] want to know the real life, authentic, what we do here, so it’s really neat." 

She said she talks about the sense of community, the jobs and the schools. But still: 

"They’re interested in the challenges," she said. "We get on the bus, and they’re like, 'Well, where’s McDonald’s?' And, 'Well, don’t you have a Costco?' And things like that. So they kind of chuckle."

Jordan will be answering those questions a lot in the next few months -- more, bigger ships than ever are expected later this season, including one with 2,000 passengers aboard in September.

KUCB intern Liam Andersen contributed to this report.