Orkney Pulls out all the stops for Cruise Ship visits
Despite some weather delays, and unexpected deviations on itinerary timings, Orkney pulled out all the stops from Thursday to Sunday to cater for the 4450 passengers who came ashore in Kirkwall and Stromness.
The Princess Daphne arrived on schedule at Hatston on Thursday morning with 450 passengers on board, and despite the rain, all tours left on time. The Costa Magica experienced weather delays out of Iceland and didnt arrive in Kirkwall Bay until 12:30, four hours later than expected. Tours were hastily re arranged and despite the late arrival, passengers were not disappointed with what they saw and experienced on the Orkney Mainland. The streets of Kirkwall thronged with over 2000 shoppers right through till 7.45 pm when the last tender left the pontoon at Kirkwall.
The Christopher Columbus arrived on time at anchor on Saturday with 375 passenges on board but the Saga Rose, on her final voyage before decommissioning, arrived at Hatston on Saturday 6 hours behind schedule due to adverse weather out of Stavanger, followed by a medical emergency.
However, once again tours were hastily arranged and all was not lost. Former MP Edwina Currie who was also on board, was in good spirits as she was waved off from the Saga Rose on Saturday evening.
The Hebridean Princess and The Island Sky were both on 3rd time visits to Stromness this season and all went according to plan.
There are still 6 more port calls for cruise ships this season plus 3 more visits from the Statsraad Lehmkuhl training ship.
Details of these visits are in the cruise section of the OIC Marine Services website
