Tag Archives: visitors

Stornoway Port Set for Major 2026 Cruise Season

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Stornoway Port Set for Major 2026 Cruise Season

Stornoway Port is preparing to welcome 89 cruise ship calls during the 2026 season, reinforcing its growing prominence as one of Scotland’s premier cruise destinations, according to a press release.

The season is expected to bring approximately 60,000 passengers to the Outer Hebrides, contributing an estimated £7.8 million to the local economy.

“The 2026 cruise season represents another major milestone for Stornoway Port, with 89 scheduled calls highlighting the continued growth in demand from international cruise operators,” said Kirsty Hutchison, cruise and marketing manager at Stornoway Port.

“The return of high-profile vessels such as Queen Anne, alongside visits from MSC Preziosa and Carnival Legend, demonstrates the strength of Stornoway’s reputation as a world-class destination.”

Among the headline arrivals in 2026 are globally recognized vessels. These include the MSC Preziosa, the Carnival Legend and Cunard’s newest flagship, the Queen Anne, which will return to Stornoway following its successful maiden visit in 2025.

The MSC Preziosa and the Carnival Legend will each bring substantial visitor numbers to the island.

Their inclusion in the schedule demonstrates sustained confidence in Stornoway’s facilities, particularly the £59 million Deep Water Terminal, which has significantly expanded the port’s ability to accommodate larger, modern cruise ships.

Hutchison said the Deep Water Terminal continues to transform what the port can offer, strengthening its ability to accommodate larger vessels and enhancing the overall visitor experience.

The port is progressing plans for the next phase of development at the terminal, alongside the ongoing development of Arnish Road, to further build capacity and resilience across the estate, she said.

Liberty: Pricing Higher in Caribbean Despite Capacity Increase

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Liberty: Pricing Higher in Caribbean Despite Capacity Increase

Jason Liberty, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, said that the company’s pricing for Caribbean voyages was up despite the industry’s significant capacity increase in the region.

He said this was for all three company brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea.

“We’re seeing high demand wanting to go to the Caribbean. We’re not only seeing good volume, but our pricing is higher in the Caribbean than it was last year,” Liberty said.

Speaking on the company’s year-end and fourth quarter earnings call, Liberty made sure to mention the cruise line expected positive yield growth for key products, including the Caribbean, as its investments continued to differentiate it from its peers and strengthen its leadership position, despite elevated capacity in the Caribbean.

“And I know that may not feed into what maybe some groups want to hear, but that is a reality that we continue to see strong demand for the Caribbean, and we continue to see strong demand for our broader organization,” he added.

Liberty said company capacity was up 6.7 percent year-over-year, driven by the new Legend of the Seas launching this summer plus full-year service from the Star of the Seas and Celebrity Xcel.

Juneau Reaffirms Cruise Passenger Limits Amid New Dock Proposal

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Juneau Reaffirms Cruise Passenger Limits Amid New Dock Proposal

While a proposed new cruise dock could expand the number of cruise berths in Juneau, the city currently has no plans to increase the number of guests arriving.

Speaking with Cruise Industry News, Tourism Director of the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ), Alexandra Pierce, highlighted the town’s sustainable approach to tourism and said that the development project has not been approved yet.

“We’re one of the communities in the world that has negotiated cruise ship limits, and we don’t have any plans to change those limits,” she said.

Juneau currently holds a voluntary five-ship-a-day limit, which keeps the number of arriving guests steady.

“We’re proud of having these negotiated agreements with the cruise industry,” she said, adding that the deals “were pretty hard fought.”

Pierce noted that the project for additional cruise berths in Juneau, which is being carried out by Goldbelt, is currently pending approval from local authorities.

“They had some preliminary meetings with the city regarding their plans. However, there are very extensive permitting and reviewing processes pending, not just by us, but also by other government agencies that would be impacted,” she explained.

While the proposed port could increase the number of berths available for ships in the town, the actual growth of cruise passengers arriving depends on many other factors, Pierce continued.

“These limits that we have in place allow us to manage for the volume that we have today,” she explained.

Pierce said that such an increase would impact many areas, from transportation to emergency services infrastructure.

“All of that needs to be taken into consideration before adding an additional 500,000 people to a port that already sees 1.7 million visitors a year,” Pierce added.

“To raise those limits, we would need to see some pretty significant infrastructure improvements, which is what our city council is kind of grappling with right now.”

Juneau is soon putting together a visitor industry task force, which will also discuss the matter, she continued.

“One of the things that we’re asking them is under what conditions can Juneau grow? What are our infrastructure needs? What are our criteria for being able to welcome more passengers?”

She noted that the city is working on infrastructure improvements, but these are aimed at better hosting the number of guests that are currently arriving.

“While infrastructure is a great destination management tool, it’s also a very slow destination management tool and very expensive,” Pierce said.

“We want to make sure that we fully recognise and understand the burden on our public facilities of any sort of growth and how we can mitigate that burden going into the future,” she added.