The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Biggest cruise ship to visit River Forth drops anchor in shadow of bridges
Tourism: Local volunteers welcome thousands of passengers to town as giant liner stops on 12-hour visit
The largest cruise ship ever to visit the Forth dropped anchor in the shadow of the famous bridges yesterday.
The MSC Meraviglia, carrying around 4,500 passengers and 1,000 crew, stayed in the Forth for a 12-hour visit.
It was a busy day for Visit Queensferry and the Cruise Forth Welcome Volunteers who were working harder than ever to ensure visitors enjoyed their stay and had a chance to explore South Queensferry, as well as visiting other attractions in the area.
Keith Giblett, the chairman of Queensferry and District Community Council, said: “While passengers may have Edinburgh as the main focus of their travel plans, it is important that as many as possible can find their way into Queensferry to discover as many of our local shops and businesses as possible.
“To that end the local community council and Cruise Forth are working with the City of Edinburgh Council seeking improvements to operational matters in and around the Hawes promenade.”
Peter Wilson, who leads the Cruise Forth project which has grown from strength to strength since it started out in 2011, said this year is already set to be the busiest for cruise passengers landing at the Hawes Pier, with around 70,000 visitors from 24 ships expected ashore.
He added the massive MSC Meraviglia presented a major challenge.
Too large for the bridges, it anchored in the Forth, with passengers – and Cruise Forth volunteers – ferried by tender. Despite that, Mr Wilson added: “Our Welcome Volunteers will be making every effort to share information about the local opportunities.”
Cruise Forth was established to promote local business opportunities to the rising number of cruise ships coming into the Forth while also providing information to passengers disembarking at Rosyth, South Queensferry, Leith and Newhaven.