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Post by kevmul on May 27, 2010 21:12:18 GMT 1
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Post by Biggles on May 30, 2010 21:50:49 GMT 1
Cruise Lines will only return in force when somebody rips up the agreement which was made to obtain European money to help build the cruise jetty at the Pier Head which basically meant that cruise ships could not start or finish a cruise from Liverpool in case we upset Southampton cruise terminal and another UK port I can`t recall. Whoever was responsible for that idiiotic peice of planning needs to find a job somewhere else. You only have to look at the cruise ships visiting the port the next few months to see how much we are missing out on by having this restriction.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2010 13:38:38 GMT 1
Whoever was responsible for that idiiotic peice of planning needs to find a job somewhere else. Possibly not. From what I'm lead to believe the decision was taken on the grounds that after a set number of years the restriction would be lifted. As they say, Rome wasn't build in a day and the decision was also taken in line with Liverpool and Wirral's long term regeneration plans in mind. There is very little point in having a cruise terminal in place if you don't have the rest of the infrastructure in place to serve it. This means things to do and places for people to stay prior, during, or after their voyage. This takes years to plan and implement and it is only now that things are noticeably starting to come together. We still have a few more years to go as the closure of Lewis's together with the redevelopment of Renshaw Street and the Central Station site are all part of it. It's unfortunate that that Health and Safety concerns have lead to Fred Olsen pulling out but I'm sure they will be back. Also this decision may give grounds for Liverpool to lobby Europe for an early termination or renegotiation of the original agreement. |
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Post by Biggles on Jun 2, 2010 21:57:41 GMT 1
Ste-t said.
"There is very little point in having a cruise terminal in place if you don't have the rest of the infrastructure in place to serve it."
Having done a number of cruises with P & O over the last decade mostly to The Caribbean I have to disagree with your comments. many cruise terminals in that area are on a par with Bootle Docks some far worse. Barbados which is used now by P&O instead of Porto Rico, is nothing special, but serves a world cruise business.
As for having infrastructure in place how many hotels in Liverpool or surrounding areas do we need to cater for this sort of visitor ? either at the start or end of a cruise. There is more than enough for visitors to do now that would easily cater for cruise passengers.
I bet leaving it for a number of years will result in Cruise Lines assuming that Liverpool as a port lacks the interest to move forward. Cruises are still a multi million pound or dollar business and is still growing, if we leave it now we will miss a valuable boat so to speak.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2010 21:36:30 GMT 1
Unfortunately, Liverpool has not got enough hotels as yet but there are more opening. Last summer people were arriving at the airport without anywhere to stay locally (even the guest houses were full) and had to travel as far as Chester and Manchester to get somewhere. As hotels spring up they are being filled with business people during the week and stag/hen party's at the weekends.
I've never been on a Caribbean cruise so can't comment on the state of the docks there. However, these are small islands who have to cater for large numbers of liners in a well developed market. Unlike the UK, operators will have very little choice in where they dock.
If Liverpool is to be a cruise terminal and not just a 12 hour stopping place then we most definately will need more hotels to cater for people arriving before their cruise. People travel the length of the UK and fly in from all over Europe to go on these things. Flights are not always reliable and indeed may not be available on the day the cruise liner departs or arrives.
Also to attract cruise companies we need to develop tourist attractions for them to visit. Putting the Garden Festival site back on the map is a step forward in that direction. Many others such as the Echo Arena and Albert Dock are already in place. Other places of interest such as Chester, The Lake District, The Lowry Centre, etc, will need specialist coach firms such as Shearings or Selwyns to handle the numbers involved but these companies won't invest in the extra staff and standard of vehicles required (£350 - £400k each) just for two or three cruises per year.
It really is a matter of 'chicken or the egg' as one won't happen without the other. We are lagging behind the well established ports in the UK but as I said things are starting to come together. Liverpool will be the gateway to the North
west as far as cruising is concerned and in two to three years from now I feel sure we will be looking at a totally different ball game.
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Post by Biggles on Jun 3, 2010 23:16:03 GMT 1
Without dragging this topic out as we could discuss it for months, I will add in answer to your last post, and I am speaking from experience, cruise passengers joining a cruise at the start usually travel to the ship in order to board it on the day of the ships departure, not one or several days in advance, therefore the number of hotel or rooms available does not enter the equation. Fly crusies are a different matter the ones I did all involved the cruise line chartering a whole aircraft to fly from UK to meet the ship in the area of departure and holiday, we arrived in my case Manchester boarded a Brittania flight and on arrival at the destination coached to port to join ship, again no need for accomodation, the exact same system worked in reverse at the cruise end. Things to do and see I bet I could organise a cruise day trip list with what we have on offer in the area right now having seen and taken part in that type of day out from a ship, the only thing I would struggle with maybe would be supplying enough sun.
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Post by RICEY on Jun 7, 2010 0:38:31 GMT 1
another reason why fred olsen are pulling out is the fact when docking they have to have tugs in the lock with her so she doesnt scrape along the dock wall. i think its 3 inbound and 1 outbound
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