Fewer cruise ships are expected in 2019
CRUISE SHIP visits are set to drop next year, according to the latest figures from Economic Development.
It is expected that 91 ships will call in Guernsey next in 2019 – a fall from the 105 that were expected this year and 117 expected in 2017.
In 2016, 106 ships were expected to call and in 2015 there were 118 scheduled.
Not all the ships were able to stop off this year, with weather and scheduling changes leading to some cancellations.
In total 91 managed to visit the island after 14 were cancelled.
An Economic Development spokesman said the numbers for next year’s cruise ship schedule were tentative and subject to change, adding that the number of ships visiting Guernsey did fluctuate often.
‘The 2019 cruise list features lots of visits where the passenger numbers are high, which is encouraging for the port and the island’s retailers,’ the spokesman said.
Among the ships confirmed for next year is the 4,300-capacity MSC Preziosa and 2,500-capacity Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas.
Cruise ships usually start calling at the island from the end of March, with the last ones visiting in early October.
The news comes as Guernsey has been named as the Best UK & British Isles Port of Call in Cruise Critic UK Editors’ Picks Awards for third time in four years.
The award is decided by two of the editors from the Cruise Critic review website, who consider all the ports around the British Isles in their deliberations.
Guernsey has been working to improve the cruise ship facilities.
This has included moving the tender dock to the Albert Pier, a meet and greet service and new awnings to protect queuing tourists from the weather.
Cruise Critic editor Adam Coulter welcomed the changes.
‘You’d be hard-pressed to find any British Isles port of call that goes as far as Guernsey to welcome cruise passengers,’ he said.
‘Thoughtful improvements are constantly made and feature parasols on the pier for hot or rainy weather, an army of helpers directing passengers towards the town, staggering tour times to avoid overcrowding, dredging the harbour and even a new section for disabled passengers to wait.’
More improvements are planned for next year, with the area around the docking pontoon set to be dredged so multiple tenders can dock at the same time.
VisitGuernsey marketing and tourism director Mike Hopkins said they were delighted to win the award again.
‘Cruise represents a significant and important part of our tourism industry and we will therefore continue to look for ways to offer passengers a positive experience and exceed their expectations when visiting our island,’ he said.
Cruise Critic is the world’s largest cruise review website, with more than 350,000 cruise reviews available online.
