Portree welcomes another record breaking cruise ship season
The first of this season’s cruise ships dropped anchor in Portree Harbour on Sunday 11th May, bringing a welcome boost to the island’s economy. The 22,000 gross tonnes “Marco Polo” carrying 794 passengers arrived from Kirkwall on a ten day round Britain cruise. Transocean Cruises, who charter the ship, are operating the same itinerary later in the summer and the vessel will return to Portree on Sunday 13th July.
Over the course of the summer Portree will host 10 cruise ships. Total passenger numbers will be in excess of 5,400, some 1,200 more than last year’s record numbers.
With average passenger spend around £40 to £50; the cruise ship calls will generate in excess of £250,000 for Skye’s tourism economy.
As this was “Marco Polo’s” maiden call at Portree, Highland Council presented the ship’s master, Captain Alexander Golubev with an engraved plaque to commemorate the occasion. Highland Councillors for Eilean a’ Cheò, Councillor Ian Renwick and Councillor Drew Millar accompanied Tourism Development Officer Gordon Ireland on board for the informal ceremony.
Councillor Renwick said: “It’s great news that more cruise ships are calling at Portree. For most of these passengers this will be the first time they have visited Skye and although they are only here for a day, we hope they will be tempted to return in the future for a longer visit.”
Passengers from “Marco Polo”, mostly British, were offered half-day excursions to Dunvegan and Eilean Donan Castle. Many simply opted to spend a few hours ashore enjoying the sunshine in Portree.
Highland Council’s Tourism Development Officer, Gordon Ireland, has been working to promote Portree to the international cruise industry. He said: “Attendance at international cruise industry exhibitions over recent years, together with our membership of marketing body Cruise Europe, has helped raise the profile of Portree as a port of call for cruise ships.
“We have achieved consistent growth over the last few years and the size of vessels calling at Portree is also increasing. The largest ship this year, in terms of passenger numbers, will be Fred Olsen’s ‘Balmoral’ carrying around 1,200.”
The full Portree Cruise schedule is:
• Sunday 11th May – Marco Polo
• Monday 26th May – Deutschland
• Monday 2nd June – Le Diamant
• Thursday 19th June – Boudicca
• Saturday 28 June – Europa
• Sunday 13th July – Marco Polo
• Sunday 27th July – c Columbus
• Monday 18th August – Le Diamant
• Friday 29th August – Balmoral
• Wednesday 3rd September – Seven Seas Voyager