suuusssiiieee Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Saw a cruise advertised for here in March looking for the Northern Lights, they are getting earlier it would seem....mv Discovery if anyone's interested. Guess the passengers will experience real Shetland weather at that time of year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilldellin Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 (edited) Had a wander down to the waterfront in Lerwick today, a couple of tourists taking pictures of the tall ship Stats****, sorry, " Kalmar " . They seemed to be staring out to sea in great wonderment ! :-http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/9679053513_d5ec5b7e69_c.jpgKalmar IMG_2003 by Ronnierob, on Flickr Edited September 5, 2013 by stilldellin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suuusssiiieee Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Yes even several months in it's still not very pretty to look at...still never mind. I see 2014 & 2015 cruise lists on the LPA website, 31st July could be interesting - two 3,000 passenger ships on the same day, hold on to your hats for that one! Never has the fabled deep water town centre berth been needed more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilldellin Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 With the cruise ship Discovery this morning aborted her second trip to Lerwick it would seem that the season hasna exactly got off to a flying start but then this is March and this is Shetland.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 (edited) So today the massive Costa Pacifica has been and gone but what did I see?. I saw hundreds of frozen and bored looking passengers wandering around. I've spoken with a friend tonight who could tell me that "there were groups of them , families, youngsters heading back to the ship at 11.30am". I know many are trying to reinvigorate "Da Street" but something is seriously wrong. Edited June 25, 2014 by Kavi Ugl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckleJoannie Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 A friend of mine spoke to some of them and he told me that they had to be back by 12 noon as the ship sailed at 2pm, hence the exodus at 11.30. Also in the harbour today was the Norwegian museum ship Nybakk. It's been undertaking a seaborne tour of some of the Ting sites in the UK. Visits included Tynwald in the Isle of Man (the oldest parliament in the world) and Dingwall in the Highlands, where the Ting was found buried under a car park. The visitors had a ceremony at Law Ting Holm then came to the Scalloway Museum for some talks on the subject. There is more here in this blog. See if you can spot me in the group at Scalloway museum. http://nordicblackbird.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/thing-ting-ding/ Kafka and Kavi Ugl 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Thanks for the clarification MuckleJoanie. Sadly, the faces and body language of those who were plodding around the town centre said it all. As I drove past it struck me how cold and bored they looked then when my friend "took the words out of my mouth" last night it just left me so demoralised. The "powers that be" just can't seem to see the problem and aren't listening anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suuusssiiieee Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 I have said for a long time that those passengers that elect to stay in Lerwick have very little in the way of things to do. That is just the way things are, there are not that many attractions around when you think about it. The establishment up here just have not got a clue, much more could be at least tried for these visitors than is happening. The amount of passengers yesterday i helped with directions even with their hand held maps (which in my opinion still could be better than what they are) was a lot. I don't know why they couldn't have something like in the London marathon ie thin Blue line to Museum, Red for Lodberries & Knab walk etc, Yellow to the entrance of Fort Charlotte (which loads of people can never find). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchieSquirrel Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 I see where everybody is going with this. I haven't heard any positive review from a tourist in a long time. sludgegulper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Are the tourists visiting Lerwick or some kind of Disney view of Lerwick?. Majority head out from the landing point on expensive coach tours anyway. For the rest there is a good museum, the Fort (when will "they" get the bottom gate open again), the Lanes, the Knab, Clickimin Broch and, for those with Shetland links the Family History Society. They can hop on local buses to go over to Scalloway, buy something good to take home from the limited number of shops selling Shetland goods (Puffin Poo anyone?) and so on. The Lerwick and Shetland they get is the same that is here the rest of the year which I think is as it should be. We are a destination not a tourist attraction. Would be interesting to hear how many cruise passengers just stay on board anyway since for some the cruise is the holiday rather than visiting various destinations. And how many go on the coach tour then straight back to the ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Girzie Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 Saw (and met) loads of cruise ship visitors energetically buying from local shops yesterday. They didn't look that bored to me - possibly a tad chilly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavi Ugl Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 (edited) I do agree wi dee JustMe, and I think that's the one thing many tourists do like about Lerwick i.e. it's a normal working town/harbour. However, 90% of the area is looking very run down and dirty. Also, without wishing to offend anyone the Bargain Centre is a monster of an eyesore. The truth is, northwards there's nothing worth seeing out past Home Furnishing and southwards you get as far as the Knab but on a cold, raw day it's far from a pleasant experience. There isn't even a display board set up highlighting and showing the way to what little things there are to see!. suuusssiiieee @ "The establishment up here just have not got a clue, much more could be at least tried for these visitors than is happening". I couldna agree more!. Edited June 26, 2014 by Kavi Ugl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasmie Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 As nothing has really changed, one must ponder why they come here then? CrunchieSquirrel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 ......frozen and bored looking passengers wandering around. That'll be them getting to experience Shetland as Shetlanders do then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suuusssiiieee Posted June 26, 2014 Report Share Posted June 26, 2014 As nothing has really changed, one must ponder why they come here then? Well in honesty neither do i, but i do know these islands miss out on far more than we receive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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