Being lucky enough to be invited to the first ‘turn
around cruise departure’ from the new Liverpool Cruise Terminal.
I was unsure
what to expect, after all it was only a week earlier permission had been given,
and 6 weeks prior to that since the new Mayor of Liverpool had stated he would
open the facility. I approached the side of the Liver building to find a brand
new structure had appeared on adjacent land that was obviously a temporary
structure that did not look unlike a white where house, with coach and taxi
drop-off facilities, and a new side road that diverts traffic around the
facility when a cruise was in.
Upon going inside, I must say I was really impressed. No
so much at the facilities, but what they had managed to do in such a short time,
it looked new, but as though it had been there a while, with everything working
and desks open, people checking in, there was plenty of seating, and the
operation looked as though it had been going for years. I spoke to the Terminal
Manager, who told me that the arriving passengers had all passed through in just
over half an hour, which is really fast.
Then we strolled down on to the floating landing stage,
which, I have to admit is fairly steep when the tide is out! But from there it
is a doddle to board the ship, and the Ocean Countess actually looked small to
some of the cruise ships I have seen at the berth, but because she does only
have 800 passengers, it was not necessarily a baptism of fire for the Liverpool
facility, and as the facility is only going to be handling these sort of numbers
for the next couple of years with just the Ocean Countess and Fred Olsen’s
Boudicca due to sail from here, by which time, the staff will also have a lot
more experience, and I think they will expand this temporary facility into
something more permanent, that ill be able to handle large passenger numbers.
