MORE than 50 cruise ships are scheduled to sail into Liverpool next year bringing with them more than 80,000 international visitors to the city, Liverpool City Council says.
The news comes after Cruise Critic.com, the cruise arm Trip Advisor awarded Liverpool ‘UK Port of Call 2014' for the second year running.
In all, 54 vessels are set to drop anchor in the Mersey, just four more than this year. But that's being hailed as a big step forward by by Liverpool Cruise terminal boss Angie Redhead who said that in the cruise game "there are no second chances and a lot of destinations are vying for cruise business.”
The undoubted highlight of the season will be two events to celebrate Cunard Cruise Line’s 175th anniversary. On 25 May the Cunard fleet will arrive on the Mersey, creating an unprecedented Three Queens spectacle in Liverpool, being billed as "a once-in-a-lifetime event that will make maritime history".
On 4 July, the Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 will return to Liverpool to mark Britannia’s transatlantic departure exactly 175 years earlier. There will be a series of events across the city, celebrating the glamour and excitement of cruise travel and how an industry that was born in Liverpool changed the world culturally, it says here.
The Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said “To have the three Cunard Queens back in their spiritual home on our beautiful waterfront will be nothing short of majestic."
Making their Mersey debut in 2015 will be the new P&O Britannia, Royal Princess, Mein Schiff 4, Celebrity Silhouette and the Spanish Pullmantur Horizon.
In the smaller ship category, calling for the first time, are the Le Boreal and le Soleal from Ponant, a French group and Marina and Nautica from the Oceania Cruise Line.
A special showreel has been made giving an insight into life at the Cruise Liner Terminal and the experience of passengers travelling to the city. This can be viewed here.
