Lauren Ingram credits cruise ships for providing her with a job.

While the tourism industry generally slows at this time of year, her workplace - the Cool As A Moose shop in Portland's Old Port - gets a surge of business whenever a cruise ship is in town.

"It's basically why I was hired," said Ingram, a seasonal associate at the store.

Six cruise ships are visiting Portland this week, carrying a total of more than 10,000 passengers. It's the greatest number of ships to visit the city during any week this year, according to Nicole Clegg, a city spokeswoman.

The first of the six ships, Royal Caribbean International's Jewel of the Seas, arrived Sunday amid wet weather from Hurricane Kyle. The ship left Boston the evening before and heads to Bar Harbor next.

Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Victory will call Monday, Cunard's Queen Mary 2 on Wednesday, American Cruise Line's American Star on Thursday, the Saga Group's Saga Ruby on Friday and Royal Caribbean International's Grandeur of the Seas on Saturday.

Cruise ship visits bring welcome business during a quiet time for Portland's tourism sector, according to Jan Beitzer, executive director of Portland's Downtown District.

"To have 2,000 people essentially delivered to your doorstep during shoulder season is very, very important," she said.

Portland will have an increase in visits by large ships, those with more than 1,000 passengers, next season. Clegg said 34 such visits are already booked for next year. This year, there were 20.

Clegg said cruise lines are choosing to stop in Portland, in part, to cut on fuel costs. A ship from Boston could, for example, use less fuel by traveling slowly to Portland as a first stop rather than heading to Bar Harbor directly, she said.

On Sunday, wet weather undoubtedly kept some of the 2,112 Jewel of the Seas passengers aboard. But some donned ponchos and raincoats to explore.

"We're used to rain," said Susie Alcaraz of Whidbey Island, Wash. "We get more of a drizzle."

She and her husband, Tony, and their friends from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Kathy and Dale Foster, hitched a ride to Long Wharf aboard a Mainely Tours trolley. They booked a 90-minute trolley tour for later in the day and also planned to find some lobster, visit a local pub and shop.

Kathy Frappier, owner of Mainely Tours, said a cruise ship visit at this time of year would normally mean that six or seven full trolleys would have been sent out by midday. Instead, four trolleys had gone out, and only one sold out its 30 seats, she said.

A cruise ship visit means different things for area businesses.

At Cool As A Moose it can mean three or four times as much business as a typical day at this time of year, said Jess Rosario, a supervisor at the store.

"It makes an extreme difference," she said.

But across the street at Pandemonium, it's a different story.

The owner, Rod Joslyn, said visits by ships catering to budget-conscious passengers don't help his shop.

And while other cruise lines' visits do help, he suspects some passengers do their shopping on excursions to Freeport and Kennebunkport, even though they return to Portland later.

"They've done their shopping. They've spent their money," he said.

Kathy and Ronnie Dalgliesh's exploration of Portland was cut short by the weather. The couple, from Northborough, Mass., walked around the Old Port a bit, bought a postcard and had drinks at the Dry Dock before heading back to the ship.

"We're sad that the weather's not gorgeous," Kathy said.

"We would have spent more money if the weather was better," Ronnie said.