The City Of Liverpool Cruise Liner Terminal

[Babaloo]

What matters is that it's a success as a turnaround facility. Hopefully Thomson is being seduced into reinstating their plans to run 30 cruises a year from the terminal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/no...-tour-operator

and Olsen wiil come back with their biggest programme ever

and Saga (and any other cruise companies) will make the most of what's on offer.

I don't know who is in charge of touting for passing trade from visiting liners but I would like to see his/her work 'audited' to ensure that s/he is marketing the facility in the most appropriate way possible and not just sitting on his/her arse waiting for an e-mail, call. There are plenty of cruise ships in the Irish Sea - why aren't more stopping at Liverpool?

I don't buy the idea that the surrounding area is uninteresting - it includes Chester, North Wales (you can be at the top of Snowdon in less than 3 hours), the Lake District, York is two hours away. Even coach trips to the more scenic parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire or the Peak District would be attractive to some cruise passengers.

It's all about marketing the full offer. 16 calls a year suggests to me that this isn't being done properly and heads should roll, or at the very least retraining needs to occur!

[MarineMan]

Originally Posted by Awayo

It is what was reported at the time the facility was planned. Any articles from then will be getting on for a decade old, and not easy to find, but you are welcome to google if you like.

I was reported in the press, etc, at the time of planning. Vox pop info. A few shouted out, but most kept quiet so as not to delay the terminal. Then shout after about the unfair conditions attached.

[EuxTex]

Originally Posted by Babaloo

I don't buy the idea that the surrounding area is uninteresting - it includes Chester, North Wales (you can be at the top of Snowdon in less than 3 hours), the Lake District, York is two hours away. Even coach trips to the more scenic parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire or the Peak District would be attractive to some cruise passengers.

It is shore based tour companies who offer land packages and if they have no product then the cruise company will not, at least in most situations, offer land packages. Cruise lines will get a commission from these tour suppliers and, for the most part, will earn that commission by only allowing one operators product to be sold on board and not allow any competition in that sector.

[Rock Savage]

Originally Posted by Babaloo

What matters is that it's a success as a turnaround facility. Hopefully Thomson is being seduced into reinstating their plans to run 30 cruises a year from the terminal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/no...-tour-operator

and Olsen wiil come back with their biggest programme ever

and Saga (and any other cruise companies) will make the most of what's on offer.

I don't know who is in charge of touting for passing trade from visiting liners but I would like to see his/her work 'audited' to ensure that s/he is marketing the facility in the most appropriate way possible and not just sitting on his/her arse waiting for an e-mail, call. There are plenty of cruise ships in the Irish Sea - why aren't more stopping at Liverpool?

I don't buy the idea that the surrounding area is uninteresting - it includes Chester, North Wales (you can be at the top of Snowdon in less than 3 hours), the Lake District, York is two hours away. Even coach trips to the more scenic parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire or the Peak District would be attractive to some cruise passengers.

It's all about marketing the full offer. 16 calls a year suggests to me that this isn't being done properly and heads should roll, or at the very least retraining needs to occur!

Perhaps more cruise liners are not stopping at the city because Liverpool in reality is not a "must see" venue for most round Britain cruises

Consider if you depart Southampton. Why would you choose to visit another English city when you can visit Dublin in Ireland, Belfast in northern Ireland, or Glasgow in Scotland.

Liverpool is never going to win over a visit to say Dublin on a day trip basis.

As a terminus, Liverpool can work well as it can attract people from all across the UK and Ireland. It seems a more natural fit. Other than that, I suspect that you are right that somebody in the marketing department needs shooting. We need a very slick marketing operation for this to succeed.

[pagey17]

Originally Posted by bluesnapper

Will that "unfair competition" reasoning be still in place when Leeds gets a HSR line passing through it?

It's Going to Manchester in all fairness, even if it does get to Leeds it will be in 2092 or something like that.

[Cast Iron Shaw]

Originally Posted by Rock Savage

Perhaps more cruise liners are not stopping at the city because Liverpool in reality is not a "must see" venue for most round Britain cruises

Liverpool is a very good port for calling cruises and gets a high satisfaction rating, particularly from Americans

Consider if you depart Southampton. Why would you choose to visit another English city when you can visit Dublin in Ireland, Belfast in northern Ireland, or Glasgow in Scotland.

I am not a cruise itinerary planner but know a few people who are.
You are right Dublin and/or Waterford are a big draws and so are the ports in the Scottish Highlands.
Port planners ideally want to fit in port calls which can be reached overnight, so steaming time between ports on a Round Britain itinerary is important.
Not sure exactly how liverpool fits in here but it should be OK
Another important factor is port charges and my understanding is that Peel Ports take the majority of port fees (River charges etc) and these are quite expensive.
If so this leaves very little revenue to pay for the capital spend on the proposed turnround facility
Liverpool is never going to win over a visit to say Dublin on a day trip basis.

As a terminus, Liverpool can work well as it can attract people from all across the UK and Ireland. It seems a more natural fit. Other than that, I suspect that you are right that somebody in the marketing department needs shooting. We need a very slick marketing operation for this to succeed.

Pl see my comment re port fees. It is crucial that Peel are onside re the terminal upgrade. Otherwise a difficult commercial equation really would be a disaster

[bluesnapper]

Originally Posted by pagey17

It's Going to Manchester in all fairness, even if it does get to Leeds it will be in 2092 or something like that.

Either way will that "unfair competition" reasoning be still in place or does it just apply to Liverpool when we get it?

[Cast Iron Shaw]

Originally Posted by Babaloo

What matters is that it's a success as a turnaround facility. Hopefully Thomson is being seduced into reinstating their plans to run 30 cruises a year from the terminal

If you look at Thomson's website, it appears they only have 3 ex UK cruises in 2012 ie two from Newcastle and one from Harwich.
They seem to be concentrating on Fly Cruises.
My understanding is they decided to drop the UK, at least for the forseeable future, as the competition from P&O, Cunard, RCCL, Celebrity, MSC, Olsen and Saga made the market overcrowded.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/no...-tour-operator

and Olsen wiil come back with their biggest programme ever

Olsen is a prime target for Liverpool, provided the price is right.However 10 calls pa perhaps, say 20 max. How much revenue do you think this would bring in relative to the cash required for terminal upgrade and grant repayment?

and Saga (and any other cruise companies) will make the most of what's on offer.

Saga could probably add another 5 or so calls.
'Any other'? Lets have some suggestions

I don't know who is in charge of touting for passing trade from visiting liners but I would like to see his/her work 'audited' to ensure that s/he is marketing the facility in the most appropriate way possible and not just sitting on his/her arse waiting for an e-mail, call. There are plenty of cruise ships in the Irish Sea - why aren't more stopping at Liverpool?

I don't buy the idea that the surrounding area is uninteresting - it includes Chester, North Wales (you can be at the top of Snowdon in less than 3 hours), the Lake District, York is two hours away. Even coach trips to the more scenic parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire or the Peak District would be attractive to some cruise passengers.

It's all about marketing the full offer. 16 calls a year suggests to me that this isn't being done properly and heads should roll, or at the very least retraining needs to occur!

Although I am a cynic, I too am rather surprised about the low total.
However Angie Redhead and her team at LCC have decent reputation of promoting the terminal. Something must be amiss.
Perhaps the charging structure as mentioned before

[MarineMan]

Originally Posted by pagey17

It's Going to Manchester in all fairness,

Which is not Liverpool - a major city.

[Cast Iron Shaw]

Originally Posted by MarineMan

I don't think P&O did. They sold the ships to I think Norfolk who run from the Mersey. P&O have always hated Liverpool. Thatcher, who also hated the city, gave their heads needless gongs. I doubt P&O will operate cruises from Liverpool.

Mostyn appear to have no interest in cruises because there is no business interest from there. They did run some though, and ferries. They know Liverpool would sweep the market. Port-of-call for small ships my be on the cards.

Good grief.
How many more people hate liverpool as far as you are concerned?

London
The South
Margaret Thatcher
The Tories
Manchester
P&O
Me

With regard to Thatcher wasnt it under her regime that Hestletine started the rebuilding of parts of the city post Toxteth?

[MarineMan]

Originally Posted by Cast Iron Shaw

Good grief.
How many more people hate liverpool as far as you are concerned?

London
The South
Margaret Thatcher
The Tories
Manchester
P&O
Me

Spot on!

With regard to Thatcher wasnt it under her regime that Hestletine started the rebuilding of parts of the city post Toxteth?

Hesseltine did sweet nothing except plant some trees. Nothing good happened to Liverpool under Thatcher. Nothing. It was all bad.

[selecta]

Originally Posted by MarineMan

Hesseltine did sweet nothing except plant some trees. Nothing good happened to Liverpool under Thatcher. Nothing. It was all bad.

And create the Freeport.

[MarineMan]

Originally Posted by selecta

And create the Freeport.

Which did sweet FA

They did use the North Sea Oil revenues to pay for the dole lines though. I suppose many would think that a bonus to the city.

[the pool08]

Originally Posted by Cast Iron Shaw

Good grief.
How many more people hate liverpool as far as you are concerned?

London
The South
Margaret Thatcher
The Tories
Manchester
P&O
Me

With regard to Thatcher wasnt it under her regime that Hestletine started the rebuilding of parts of the city post Toxteth?

ha ha "rebuilding" thats right.
TOXTETH..81... 4MILLION UNEMPLOYED....
this town is coming like a ghost town,Why must the youth fight against themselves?
Government leaving the youth on the shelf




rant over,, feel better now

[Rock Savage]

Originally Posted by MarineMan

Spot on!



Hesseltine did sweet nothing except plant some trees. Nothing good happened to Liverpool under Thatcher. Nothing. It was all bad.

Heseltine may not have done much apart from plant a few trees, but he was never in a position to actually do anything much at the time. He was a token "Minister for Merseyside".

What he did do was to call things as he saw them, correctly most of the time. He seemed to genuinely care which has been borne out recently.

[Awayo]

In a rather colonialist fashion (he'd have made of the more humane imperial governors at the end of the 19th). Unless the hate-filled snobbish lmc bigots elsewhere in his party, he was posh enough to quite like common people with their unfuriating ways.

And his week as "minister for Merseyside" (a nickname, not an office of state) did a lot more than resulted in the planting of a few trees (Albert Dock anyone?) but of course it was a drop in the ocean compared with the wider tanking economy.

[Awayo]

Here's Governor Hezza from earlier this year:

"Liverpool is Liverpool. We have all lived with this, all my political life. I love them, but they do their thing – you can predict what they do. It is a cross we have to bear, to be honest."

Damn queer chaps those Pygmies, but they are so endearing! Erm, I mean Scousers.

[Rock Savage]

Originally Posted by Cast Iron Shaw

Pl see my comment re port fees. It is crucial that Peel are onside re the terminal upgrade. Otherwise a difficult commercial equation really would be a disaster

Liverpool is a very good port for calling cruises and gets a high satisfaction rating, particularly from Americans


That much is true. I think we were voted as the fifth best destination in a poll amongst passengers, which is a great vote of confidence. It gives us something to build on.

However, Dublin as expected is higher on the list and I am sure we are overlooked in favour of the Emerald City on numerous occasions.

As a fully fledged terminal, Liverpool is visited by default, with Irish and Scottish ports within easy reach. We could even become the de facto start and end point for Irish nationals (in addition to the rest of northern mainland UK), given that we are only a short flight away.

[Rock Savage]

Originally Posted by Awayo

Here's Governor Hezza from earlier this year:

"Liverpool is Liverpool. We have all lived with this, all my political life. I love them, but they do their thing – you can predict what they do. It is a cross we have to bear, to be honest."

Damn queer chaps those Pygmies, but they are so endearing! Erm, I mean Scousers.

But by the same token, I bet you can't disagree with him either! He doesn't see the city through rose tints and is more credible because of it.

[Babaloo]

Being part of a country that is caught up in deference to an unelected monarchy, schadenfreude, emotional repression that erupts in outpourings of sobbing and wailing when a princess dies or the national team loses etc is a cross we have to bear.