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Cruise ship cancellations


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I read that the Costa Magica due on Saturday has cancelled her visit. This recently isn't the first to do so and the usual line rolled out is "weather related" which i find hard to swallow.

 

The forecast for Saturday is not bad which i think must raise doubts as to the real reasons this keeps happening.

 

Could it be the sad state of the Shetland product, the bleak town centre or something else?

 

I think cruise operators arw beginning to realise that things aren't so rosy up here.

 

Finally anchoring is frowned upon nowadays so this projected cruise berth in the town centre has never been more needed.

 

Thoughts everyone?

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OK, here we go again.

 

Let's break down your opening post:

 

 "and the usual line rolled out is "weather related" which i find hard to swallow."  

 

Some evidence that this (and other) cancellations are due to weather and that local, as opposed to likely weather conditions encountered later on the trip would give your opinion more credence.

 

"I think cruise operators are beginning to realise that things aren't so rosy up here." 

 

What are you on about here? Local anguish over traffic calming measures? Rising house prices? No Tunnocks teacakes in Tescos? 

 

"Finally anchoring is frowned upon nowadays so this projected cruise berth in the town centre has never been more needed."

 

For a kickoff, anchoring off Lerwick is not 'frowned upon nowadays'. There's no issues regarding the seabed environment just off Lerwick harbour as far as i know.

Secondly, if you believe that Shetland is such a bad place for cruise ships to visit, how come you would be more than happy for other folk to spend millions on a new berth to bring these cruise ships here? It can't possibly change your opinion that Shetland is a bad gig, can it?

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I managed to successfully garble this bit :)

 

 

 

Some evidence that this (and other) cancellations are due to weather and that local, as opposed to likely weather conditions encountered later on the trip would give your opinion more credence.

 

 

 

I mean where is your evidence that these trips have been cancelled because of weather conditions. Evidence, not opinion.

 

And if they have cancelled because of weather issues, do they mean local weather conditions or weather they may encounter later on in the cruise that could affect their itinerary?

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What makes you say that the Shetland product is in a ‘sad state’? From my involvement in the tourist industry over the last 10+ years, most of wir visitors leave with an overwhelmingly positive experience of the place.

 

As for the town centre – it might not be perfect but I wouldn’t describe it as ‘bleak’ either. Try visiting some central belt towns to put things into a bit of perspective.

 

I think you’re reading into all of this a bit too much. For any cruise, Lerwick is just one of a number of stopping places on a busy schedule and circumstances elsewhere (including weather – even it’s a fine day here) can easily put that out of whack.

 

If Lerwick really was the big disappointment that you imply it is, I'd doubt they'd plan to visit in the first place.

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I think suuusssiiieee has some valid points.

 

With the now fourth cancellation this year it's obvious that Lerwick/Shetland is expendable and would appear to be just a minor stop in their itinerary.  Yes, it's great that such a variety and size of cruise ships are calling but it's not much sense if they're also cancelling one after the other!.

 

Something I've observed even this year is passengers returning to their ship as early as 12.30am and whatever the reason it doesn't look good.   

 

Comparing Lerwick with some town or city in Scotland is kinda meaningless I'd say. 

 

Shetland has some great, even world class, things to see like Mousa Broch, Clickimin Broch, Shetland Museum, Sumburgh Lighthouse, Scalloway Museum, Shetland Croft House Museum and the Viking house/ship in Unst.

 

The town centre is a charming little place with the Lodberries, lanes and harbour but is definitely the worse for wear nowadays and the new "traffic calming" is very out of place for the area and is even an eyesore.

 

On a rainy day like yesterday Shetland is a very bleak place and we need to be doing what we can to change that, perhaps with more Scandinavian style architecture - even within the central areas of Lerwick.

 

Maybe that's not to ​everyones' taste and that's okay, but I think it is something we should be pursuing where possible.  My friend from Faroe said "you have beautiful islands but your buildings are terrible"!.

 

I drove past Old Scatness two weeks ago and it was heart-breaking to see the site languishing and abandoned.  If the idea to cover it with a wooden framed, grass covered roof and made into an enclosed, professional attraction had come to fruition it would truly be a world class attraction.

 

I'd say we've come a long way in even 20 years but we can and must do more.

:razz:

Edited by Kavi Ugl
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Terrible things cruise ships , huge carbon footprint to run them never mind the filthy dirty water they release into our seas !

Not getting your point at all.

 

VIllage of 3000-4000 folk, driving around, using public transport, heating, lighting, cooking and generating waste water that ends up in the sea always at the same spot. Remove their collective carbon footprint and pollution from their fixed location, and send it toodling around the seven seas, you're more or less trading their transport generated carbon footprint from their fixed location to a moving location, their personal heat/light/cook footprint should remain static, and their pollution is being far more thinly spread somewhat minimising its impact.

 

Seems more like two broadly similar methods of achieving not too dissimilar outcomes, than a 'nice' one and a 'nasty' one. What have I missed?

Edited by Ghostrider
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Kavi, you were doing so well until you mentioned 'Scandinavian housing', never mind..... ;)

 

Some good points raised there but I'll counter the point where you comment about passengers returning by 12:30

 

I was fortunate enough to spend a fair amount of my yoof floating around the Caribbean amongst other places. To be honest, all those 'exotic' places we visited were fairly small towns with not much to 'do' locally as it were. The towns were very nice, but if you removed the sunshine and the beaches they all looked rather the same. The result would be that you'd spend a couple of hours mooching around the town and then that was it done as far as the touristy stuff is concerned.

 

Into the nearest bar.....etc...etc...

 

Lerwick is as you say an attractive little town, but just the same as most other small towns, after a couple of hours you've 'done' Lerwick. So if you're not booked on a trip you're going to go back on board, unfortunately it would appear that this is being taken as a negative reaction by some. Not so in my opinion. That's the way it works.

 

What could the difference from a visitors viewpoint is what range of trips can they go on to explore the area. I personally have no idea what is organised for these people.

 

Regarding Shetland being expendable as a destination - well, I think we'll have to accept that we will be at the top of that list, partially because of our location and partly because of weather issues.

 

Here's a thought, how's about those who are gurning about cancellations actually finding out the official reasons (evidenced) and then finding out how many cruises ships out of the total that were booked to visit have actually binned Shetland in, say, the last three years?

 

I bet it's not as many as they make out......

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Sat outside and had my breakfast this really beautiful morning,not often one can do that in Shetland so it is a shame that the Costa Magica changed her itinerary and bypassed Shetland denying passengers a chance to these islands at there best.

 

Hope all these passengers claim compensation as Shetland (Lerwick) was on the schedule .Guess that what folk paid for. 

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Well Scorie, just think how the water front/harbour area has been spruced up with the LPA buildings(Customs Shed, Albert Building, Stewart Building) and the North Ness buildings too.

 

Lovely buildings with a touch of Scandinavian character which have brightened up what was a very drab and run down area at one time.

 

I often think about what would have been built to replace them at one time - just cold block and harl!.

 

Hopefully if the LPA build a new cruise pier and centre on the site of the old fish market we'll see another nice Scandinavian style of building.

Edited by Kavi Ugl
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