Fort William welcomes second cruise ship

PASSENGERS abroad the Boudicca cruise ship arrived in Fort William yesterday (Wednesday May 10) and enjoyed a host of events organised for them by various Lochaber businesses and volunteers.

The second of seven cruise ships coming to the town this year, the Boudicca brought 500 visitors from Belfast to Lochaber for the day.

Visitors disembarked at the pontoons first thing yesterday morning. Some passengers headed to Glencoe and Anoch Mor on bus tours, while others climbed aboard the steam train to Glenfinnan for part of the day, before getting back on the ship around 5.30pm.

A number of events were planned, including talks from Lochaber Geo-Park, Chocolate Box tastings, an exhibition from the Lime Tree Gallery, piping and some Scottish country dancing.

Fort William Marina and Shoreline Company secretary Sarah Kennedy said: ‘I have had some great feedback from shops who are really coming on board, and many shops ran special offers for cruise ship passengers.

‘I will be going round the town on Saturday to speak to shop keepers and find out what the feedback is like.’

The Lochaber Times, with the Outdoor Capital of the UK made special maps which where handed out to passengers as they came off the cruise ship. The maps detailed the highlights of the Fort William area.