Move over, Southampton: these six cruise ports want to steal your crown

With UK cruise passenger numbers expected to crest the two million mark before the close of 2018 and the country firmly established as Europe’s second largest cruise market behind Germany, the last few years have overseen drastic improvements to a number of British cruise ports. Southampton has historically been the most important cruise hub, and remains the busiest by some way. But the lucrative potential of cruise tourism has got several cruise destinations around the country jostling to usurp the south coast city and, in the process, radically redraw the UK tourist map:

Dover, Kent

Right behind Southampton as the UK’s second busiest cruise port, and with all the potential to go one place better, Dover has two cruise terminals and the capacity to handle three cruise ships at once. It has traditionally marketed itself as a departure port for Northern Europe, Baltic and Scandinavian cruises, but is trying to cement itself as a Mediterranean cruise port-of-call too.

Currently attracting over 200,000 annual passengers and 20-odd cruise companies, the cruise terminal is handy for a number of day shore excursions. These include the famous White Cliffs of Dover and impressive Dover Castle and, further afield, jaunts out to the historic pilgrimage city of Canterbury, to Margate and its Turner Contemporary art gallery, and to the charming old smuggler’s town of Rye in East Sussex.

London Tilbury, Essex

The decision by authorities to add the suffix ‘London’ on the end of the name of this cruise terminal near the mouth of the River Thames has been sufficient to pique the interest of a number of cruise ships, eager to have one of the world’s most cosmopolitan and exciting capitals on their itinerary.

What Tilbury, in Essex, lacks in looks, it compensates for in convenience. A multi-million pound, 2017 refurbishment extended the docking quay here, and improved the baggage hall. One USP for disembarking passengers is that Thames clipper boats can whisk you upriver to London proper: to Greenwich in 35 minutes or Tower Bridge in 50 minutes. Cruise departures are mainly round-Britain, or to Scandinavian or Baltic destinations.

Liverpool, Merseyside

Local authorities in Liverpool have shown they are serious about further expanding the city’s already booming dock on the River Mersey, by giving the green light to a £50 million development to transform the cruise dock facility from a floating structure into a permanent one. Close to the Victorian Princes Dock, Liverpool cruise terminal has the added bonus of being close to the city centre: a feature only a handful of terminals worldwide can boast.

Already luring over 100,000 cruise passengers annually, this vibrant city’s attractions include, as the birthplace of the Beatles, a colossal music scene, and more museums and art galleries than anywhere else in the country outside of London. 2019 is forecast to see almost 50 per cent more cruise traffic to Liverpool than this year did, too. 

Greenock, Renfrewshire

Greenock, on the south bank of Scotland’s River Clyde, already welcomes well over 100,000 cruise passengers annually, but plans are afoot to upgrade facilities to a £15 million ‘Ocean Terminal,' which will even include an art gallery celebrating the work of local sculptor George Wylie. The port authority aims to be welcoming one million passengers by 2023. 

As well as offering easy access to Britain’s third-largest city, Glasgow, the other enticing prospect for Greenock-bound passengers is proximity of the wilder peninsulas and isles of western Scotland. From Gourock and Wemyss Bay, connected to Greenock by frequent buses and trains, there are ferry services to the Cowal Peninsula and the popular Isle of Bute.

Kirkwall, Orkney

On a regular basis during the summer season, the Hatston Pier terminal on remote little Kirkwall, capital of the Orkney Islands, handles cruise ship arrivals with passenger numbers of more than 1,000, with the arrivals of giants like the MSC Preziosa bringing in over 4000: no shabby turnaround for a city with a population of just 10,000. In fact, by vessel numbers, the Orkneys (Kirkwall and Stromness ports combined) are the UK’s most popular cruise ship destination according to the Orkney Harbours Authority. Over 140 vessels currently stop by.

The reasons why are easy to see. In contrast to most UK cruise terminals, where passengers disembark into a city environment, in the verdant Orkneys nature is immediately on hand. Some stunning coastal scenery lies close by. History resonates everywhere too, with the islands boasting the highest concentration of ancient monuments anywhere in Northern Europe: a fact that has earned one isle in the archipelago, Rousay, the moniker ‘Egypt of the North.’   

Plymouth, Devon

The port that saw off some of the world’s most important voyages of discovery in the 16th and 17th centuries is a long way astern of Southampton in terms of cruise ship clout. But this may not be the case for much longer. Plymouth already has capacity to welcome 40 per cent of the world’s cruise vessels, and there is talk of a new £8 million cruise facility.

As the city that is home to one of the world’s most famous historic vessels, the Mayflower, gears up to host the 400th anniversary of the ship’s launch in 2020, there is a focus on stepping up the numbers of smaller visiting ships to justify investment in a larger cruise terminal. Plymouth’s location close to Torquay, the UK’s most popular seaside resort as well as to the tourist Mecca of Cornwall also means that, for coast-loving cruise passengers, this port is an attractive prospect.