It seems that cruise lines are finally listening to their passengers as Scotland and Wales are set to celebrate a record cruise season in 2017.
The news comes as Cruise and Maritime announced that they will have cruises departing from Wales for the first time ever next year.
The Marco Polo will be offering cruises from Cardiff to Spain, France, Portugal and the Norwegian Fjords which the Magellan will sail from Newport to Dublin and the Norwegian Fjords.
Mike Hall, the head of marketing for Cruise and Maritime said: “CMV is delighted to be cruising from Wales in 2017 and would like to thank ABP Ports and Cruise Wales for their support in bringing this about.”
“Sales have been extremely encouraging and it is our intention to be sailing from Wales again in 2018.”
It was also announced that Scotland is preparing for a record breaking 2017 with 676 visits from cruise ships planned. This will bring and impressive 484,000 cruise passengers to the country.
Cruise Scotland chairman Andrew Hemphill said: “The expectations for next year will mean that since 2010, the organisation’s first full year, ship numbers, passengers and their spend will all have more than doubled.”
Whilst this will bring money to Scotland, it will also mean that guests from very far North will not have to travel all the way to Southampton.
The ports on offer for Scottish cruisers include Greenock, Kirkwall, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and many more.
So what do you think of the news? Are you pleased that cruise lines are beginning to sail from more varied UK ports than Southampton? Are you excited to sail from Wales or Scotland next year? Let us know in the comments below…
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