Golden Princess To Visit Invergordon

The ship is due to berth at 0800 hours and depart at 1900 hours, giving passengers a full day to enjoy the delights of the Highlands.

The impressive range of shore excursions on offer includes visits to Loch Ness combined with Cawdor Castle; Loch Ness combined with Culloden Battlefield; Dunrobin Castle; Glenmorangie Distillery; scenic Highland tour including a visit to Dornoch; Castle of Mey; West Highlands and Inverewe Garden; Golf at Royal Dornoch; Cromarty and the Black Isle; Portmahomack and Tarbat Discovery Centre. Shopping trips to Inverness are also on offer, as are visits to Glen Ord Distillery, combined with Made in Scotland at Beauly.

For the more adventurous, there is the opportunity to go on a 4-wheel drive photo expedition or take a dolphin spotting trip on the Moray Firth in a rigid inflatable boat. A limited number of passengers will even be invited to afternoon tea at Foulis castle.

Many of the excursions are half day tours so it is expected that at any one time throughout the day, there could be up to 1,000 passengers in and around Invergordon itself, plus a considerable number of locals and visitors who will come into town to see the giant liner.

Malcolm Harrison, Chairman of the recently formed Invergordon Tourism Alliance, said: “Invergordon itself will be providing entertainment with local musicians and a craft show. We will be giving a warm welcome to the cruise ship passengers and other visitors and I’m sure they will leave with really good memories of Invergordon and the Highlands.”

Welcoming what will be the first of three visits by Golden Princess, Councillor Duncan Allan, The Highland Council’s tourism spokesman, commented: “I am delighted to see such a range of shore excursions being offered to the guests on this ship. The economic benefits will be spread over a wide area of the Highlands. Many of these passengers will be visiting the Highlands for the first time and even though they are only here for a day, if they like what they see, we hope they will be persuaded to return in future for a longer land based holiday.”

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For further information contact Gordon Ireland, Tourism Development Officer, The Highland Council, Inverness Castle, Inverness. Tel. 01463 710729