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Search forGiant cruise ship cancels visit to Bristol
Wednesday, September 03, 2008, 08:00
City leaders were ready to welcome the Regent Seven Seas Voyager into Royal Portbury Dock on Sunday.
More than 700 passengers, mostly from America, were due to visit the city as the first cruise liner for 10 years sailed up the Bristol Channel.
The visit was hailed as the dawn of a new era for tourism in the area, bringing the promise of a welcome injection of cash to the economy.
But an 11th hour change of heart has seen the company re-route the voyage to the south Devon town of Dartmouth.
A VIP reception on the ss Great Britain has been cancelled, as has a ceremony to present the captain of the 41,000-tonne liner with the keys to the city.
Bristol-born skipper John McNeill was due to receive the honour as he captained his "homecoming cruise".
A Filton-based choir invited to sing aboard the Regent Seven Seas Voyager has also been let down at the last minute.
The secretary of the New Harmony Ladies' Choir was notified just yesterday morning that the ship would not be visiting the city and their performance was cancelled.
Margaret Pearson, chairwoman of the choir, said the 34 members who were due to perform were dismayed.
She said: "We had been invited by the Lord Mayor to sing on board the ship on behalf of Bristol.
"Everyone is absolutely gutted, and we all feel deflated. We were all really looking forward to it, and the prestige of it would have been wonderful.
"Lots of arrangements have been put in place so that we could sing on the ship. We drafted in a standby conductor because our regular conductor couldn't make it, and we have all been through lots of security checks to make it possible.
"It is a bit off really. Bristol is an up-and-coming city, and having a cruise liner coming here would have been great for the region."
Regent Seven Seas Cruises said visiting Dartmouth instead of Bristol would provide a better experience for its passengers because of its "charm and character".
In a statement, the company said: "The primary objective for the captain of a Regent ship is the guest 'experience'. This is why Regent Seven Seas Cruises have chosen one alternative port call during Captain John McNeill's Home Coming Cruise.
"Seven Seas Voyager will sail into historic Dartmouth, home of the Britannia Royal Naval College on September 7, instead of her originally planned call into Bristol.
"Although Bristol is a city of culture and famous for the ss Great Britain, on this cruise Regent felt that the picturesque fishing town of Dartmouth has the intimate charm and character guests of the Home Coming Cruise would appreciate.
"This choice has been made to ensure all the guests onboard Seven Seas Voyager are able to appreciate the best out of each port.
"Regent thanks the ports of Bristol and Dartmouth for their help and understanding with this decision and look forward to visiting them again in the future."
Having started in the Danish city of Copenhagen last week, the Seven Seas Voyager will now dock at Cork in Ireland on Saturday, before heading to Dartmouth on Sunday, doubling back to Falmouth on Monday before sailing east again to end its 10-day voyage in Southampton.
The news is a further blow to tourism in Bristol, following last year's collapse of the Arena proposal, the announced loss of the Empire and Commonwealth Museum to London and the closure of the Imax and Wildwalk centres.
John Hallett, director of tourism office Destination Bristol, said: "This was meant to be a watershed for us and the fact the first (liner) coming in for a decade has been subject to an itinerary change is very, very disappointing indeed.
"I suspect there were a range of factors, including the time and, I suspect, some economic ones, which were impacting on its ability to dock at Bristol.
"But there are a number of inquiries with cruise companies in the pipeline and we will continue to carry on and try and attract more cruise liners to Bristol."
A spokesman for Bristol Port Company, which runs Royal Portbury Dock, said: "We have been preparing for them and we are very disappointed it's not happening.
"We know the tourism team at Destination Bristol have put an enormous amount of work into this so we are disappointed for them as well. We hope other cruise liners will come in the future but we will have to wait and see."
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