News - 02/05/18

Cruise guests from the Astor received a warm welcome to Cowes on Sunday, 29th April, in spite of the chilly spring weather! Intercruises Shoreside & Port Services, who were handling the Astor’s visit, were very pleased with the local support from Cowes Harbour Commission, Visit Isle of Wight Travel Ambassadors, Cowes and Isle of Wight businesses. 

The Travel Ambassadors were well received and greeted 346 cruise guests on The Parade with the new “Explore Cowes” leaflet and other Island tourism materials. Around 250 cruise passengers were booked onto various excursions and it was encouraging to see Island coach firms being used, meaning that coaches were not brought over from the mainland. Approximately 100 cruise guests stayed ashore independently, in and around Cowes, and it was good to see Astor passengers in the shops and cafés on the High Street, albeit later than expected.

Visit Isle of Wight, Destination Cowes and Cowes Harbour Commission aim to build on the first cruise ship “Meet & Greet” and will continue to work closely with cruise industry partners and local organisations on the ongoing cruise visits marketing initiative.

Forthcoming cruise ship visits to Cowes are published on the Commission’s website, and the CBA website. Wherever possible ahead of future cruise visits, CHC will publicise not only the ship’s ETA (estimated time of arrival) at the anchorage, but also a guide time from when the cruise ship’s tenders are likely to start disembarking passengers at Trinity Landing.

Europa is the next cruise ship to visit on Wednesday, 22nd August from 0800 to 1800. It is hoped that in working with the port agents, it may be possible to get “Explore Cowes” tourism leaflets onboard ship ahead of the cruise call and to let passengers know there will be Travel Ambassadors ashore to help them make the most of their visit to Cowes and the Island.

• View photos of the Astor’s visit on the CHC Facebook page