52 cruise ships are scheduled to call at the Liverpool Cruise Terminal during 2014. In total, the ships are expected to bring over 70,000 visitors to the city.
A number of different cruise companies will send vessels to the northern city in 2014, including Princess Cruises’ Ruby Princess, MSC’s Magnifica and Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.
According to the Mersey Maritime Group, the Liverpool Cruise Terminal is quickly growing in popularity. It began operating fully in 2008, hosting just 13 cruise ships in that first year. Fast forward to 2012, and Liverpool Cruise Terminal welcomed 42 “calls”. It is expected that 52 ships will call at the terminal next year: a growth of 23.8% in one year alone.
Speaking of the growth, Angie Redhead, Liverpool Cruise & Operations Manager said:
“The growth of cruise calls is driven by a combination of factors, predominantly our city centre location and the sheer choice of quality experiences on the doorstep and in the surrounding region. Passenger comment cards are a delight to read as expectations are exceeded on every occasion. This is very important in a competitive industry where there are no second chances and a lot of destinations are vying for cruise business.”
Thomson Cruises is the latest cruse company embracing Liverpool. They’ll be providing sailings from the terminal in 2014, offering three itineraries in May next year. Fred Olsen will also continue to offer cruises from Liverpool in 2014.
Both Cunard and Celebrity cruise lines will be offering shorter voyages to and from Liverpool onboard Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Celebrity Infinity.
Next May, Cunard will send Queen Victoria to the Liverpool terminal, where she’ll stay overnight as part of the company’s celebration of “Aquitania’s Centenary” – the 100th anniversary of the maiden voyage departure of Aquitania. The ship is a Cunard legend, in 1914 she was the largest liner in the world and was given the nickname “Ship Beautiful.” Aquitania became one of Cunard’s longest serving in the fleet, and was the only major liner to serve in both World Wars. Liverpool is Cunard’s “spiritual home”, according to the company.
Speaking of the upcoming Liverpool celebrations, Peter Shanks, Cunard’s President and Managing Director said:
“Each visit of a Cunard ship to the Mersey is reason to celebrate and the city and crowds do not let us down. The departure of Aquitania 100 years ago is something to be proud off and something to celebrate and we intend to do that in true Cunard style on the actual day of the anniversary”.
Also calling at the Liverpool Cruise Terminal in July 2014 is Celebrity Infinity, who will stay overnight so passengers can visit The British Open Championship, at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Images courtesy of Cruise-Liverpool.com, Liverpool Cruise Terminal’s official website.
