North East looking to welcome more cruise ships to its port

North shields is not a port that you would think of immediately as one that has cruise ships
docking and departing for cruises.

Over the last few years they have been gradually encourages more ships to use them and I say
good luck to them, it opens up more opportunities for travellers scattered around the North of the
UK to take advantage of cruises without having to make that long trek down to Southampton or
Dover.

In August 2010 they were lucky to have Holland America's Westerdam dock and since then many
cruises with the likes of Fred Olsen featuring a selection of cruises from Newcastle and also Cruise and Maritime who have a small selection of cruises from Newcastle.

I have booked passengers with Fred Olsen who live in the North West who have travelled to Newcastle because for them they would rather have 2 hours 40 minutes in the car than 4-5 hours travelling south.

This year they are expecting 37 ships to dock which is nearly double what they had last year when they had just 20. 17 of these will actually be starting their journey from North East.

Great news for the economy in the North East as well as great news for all of you who would like
to find a cruise that you can embark on closer to home.

Keep up the good work Newcastle and lets hope you can attract more and more cruise ships which will
encourage more passengers and give everyone a boost.