On this site, we have long covered Liverpool Cruise Terminal, the challenges it has faced and the success it has had too. In the last few years the cruise terminal has gone from strength to strength. In 2007 at opening there were just three cruise ships visiting, last year there were over 150. Nobody can say that isn’t a brilliant outcome.

Now the council is proposing to privatise the cruise terminal to a specialist to take it to the next level. Prior to the pandemic, Liverpool City Council had proposed a new cruise terminal and hotel however funding, as always, has been a problem. Councils in the UK have been struggling for some time and this is seen as a nice to have when critical services are struggling. This has left the proposed cruise terminal repeatedly postponed with surging costs meaning the proposed terminal would now cost £88m, far too high a commitment for the council to make.

From my perspective the council and the team have done brilliant things to develop the cruise terminal, it still remains essentially a tent, but it has had hundreds of calls and over a million passengers travelling through. They managed to attract the MSC Virtuosa during the pandemic to operate out of the city, and have bounced back from that pandemic well.

Currently, in 2023, we have Fred Olsen sailing Borealis out of the city on regular cruises and Ambassador has arranged a handful of cruises on Ambition. I do believe there is an opportunity for further growth on a variety of ships, hopefully, some more premium brands, Azamara, Hapag-Lloyd, Regent and Silversea would really demonstrate that the Liverpool cruise market has scope.

I still believe the cruise product of the city of Liverpool, the city is well located and connected, with a strong tourist industry and the nearby regions are diverse and interesting, it is a great place to visit, start and end your cruise. There have been criticisms from the community about the pollution that cruise ships make and the impact this can have on the city, however there is a clear solution to this which is used worldwide – allowing the ships to connect to shoreside power.

It is always good to look at what other cities are doing – Hamburg is currently building its third cruise terminal which should be a target for Liverpool. They are much further along in their journey but Liverpool is regularly used and occasionally has congestion so could be a real possibility in the future.

According to reports the Council has been in talks to hand over the facility to a private company with worldwide experience. This would be a welcome addition to help the facility develop and invest, the council has proved the cruise market is there in the city it is now down to a new operate to build on that success and create more jobs and have that positive economic impact in the city.

Have you cruised from Liverpool? Or what would you like to see happen?

Thanks,

Liam