The first cruise ship passengers to come ashore at Stornoway’s brand new £59 million deep water berth have given an enthusiastic thumbs up to their visit.
Many tourism business are also delighted to see the cruise season kick off, hailing the extra footfall through the island.
Stornoway Port are excited at the “incredible milestone” with the inaugural docking of MS Ambition on her maiden call to Stornoway, the first of 45 large cruise vessels due at the terminal this year.
“We look forward to many more successful voyages and milestones ahead.”
Three friends from South Wales who journeyed together on the Ambition enjoyed their sightseeing coach tour ashore on Lewis.
“We visited the Callanish Stones, Carloway Broch and the blackhouse,” explained Pam Planchant.
Monica Rees was “impressed with the landscape. We haven’t been here before and it looks bleak but impressive. We also had a little walk around Stornoway and went up to the castle, that was lovely.”
Pat Pope said: “We went into the shops where they were selling the Harris Tweed.
“We also had a good service from the shuttle buses, that was brilliant and we are very pleased with that.”
The group were fascinated with the Sheòl an Iolaire art installation at South Beach and keen to learn more about the history of the HMY Iolaire disaster.
They would have loved more time to go shopping and intended to pop into a cafe or a bar but were up against the clock as the liner unfortunately cut short her visit due to a forecast of strong winds.
Nyoman from Bali and Dorji Dema from Bhutan went shopping in the town to buy boots.
Both enjoyed their meal of spring rolls and pork ribs with spicy sauce in the Golden Ocean restaurant.
Jill and Dave Smith opted for a cruise around the coast “so that we could see the islands easily because we're from Bedfordshire but it would take us a couple of days to get up here to go anywhere.
“And now were here in the Hebrides which is great. This has been really interesting actually.”
For the couple, the best part was the sight-
Jill said “We arranged a tour in the morning -
The first customers through the door when the Blue Lobster cafe opened in the morning were arrivals off the MS Ambition.
“Today was a good, good day, said Jane Macritchie who runs the venue.
“We had quite a lot (of cruise visitors) for coffee and cake. A lot of crew members came in as well.
“We were short staffed and could only do takeaways but they were certainly all really happy and really nice to be around.”
Also pleased was Eilidh Jamieson of Ejay Design art shop who received a run of steady sales from a “fair amount” of cruise visitors. Her own designs of coasters, stickers and prints with watercolour island maps with a touch of gold were in high demand.
“I was looking forward to this and it was definitely worthwhile opening” on the bank holiday.
Cruise liner trade is “my lifeline, especially when winters are so quiet and slow. Its exciting to get a bit of life back into the town. I would not be here without the cruiseliners.”
Meeting and conversing with the wide variety of people visiting the town is also wonderful.
“I do enjoy meeting all the different kinds of people.
“Sometimes, the cruise employees come in themselves and start talking about how my
work can be used to work with them on cruise ships -
Sardar’s on Cromwell Street was also busy with passengers buying clothes and gifts.
“People were buying a mixture of everything,” said the manageress. Having the cruise ships coming in makes a “positive impact” in the town centre.”
Across the road at the Island Spirit Whisky Shop, co-
Western Isles’ produced drinks such as whisky and gin were steady sellers.
“We had extra footfall. It was manageable and not too hectic. Passengers came in groups of ones and twos. They were coming in as the (shuttle) buses were arriving.
“They are interested in the types of local products we stock such as Abhainn Dearg whisky, Harris gin, Downpour.
“We always see a difference with the cruiseliners and we can manage it as we are a small family business and are quite flexible” for covering extra staffing.
Previously, many shipping lines avoided Stornoway as bigger vessels had to anchor out in the bay with passengers ferried ashore in small tenders.
Now, they simply walk down a gangway onto double decker buses running shuttle service into the town.
Others chose to take a coach tour for sight-
Cruise visitors enjoy their welcome to Stornoway
3 April 2024
Friends from South Wales enjoyed visiting the island
Nyoman from Bali and Dorji Dema from Bhutan
The Smiths were enthusiastic about their coach tour to historical landmarks