Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cruise season under way as ship arrives in Stornoway

Astoria
Astoria

The lucrative cruising season is under way for Stornoway after the arrival of its first visitors.

The 16,144 tonne Astoria officially began the Western Isles cruise season when it arrived in port from Tobermory early yesterday morning.

It was a slightly delayed start to the season after a scheduled visit by the Astoria on March 24 had to be cancelled because of bad weather and rough seas.

The ship put 486 passengers ashore, with the majority visiting from elsewhere in Britain.

To mark the start of the 2016 cruise season Stornoway Port Authority harbour master Tony Morrison presented Captain Filipe Sousa of the Astoria with a handmade Harris Tweed plaque and a hamper with various local delicacies.

The Astoria is operated by Cruise and Maritime Voyages is the world’s oldest active ocean-going cruise ship.

It was launched on September 9, 1946 as the Stockholm and has passed through several owners and sailed under various names.

She was previously named Azores and began services as Astoria in March this year.

Astoria’s size determined the use of the port’s Sandwick anchorage and the passenger disembarked by tender and took a tour of the town and the island.

The vessel departed Stornoway at 5pm bound for Kirkwall.

Stornoway Port Authority chief executive Alex MacLeod said: “We were delighted to welcome the Astoria as the first visitor of the 2016 cruise season.

“Having cancelled her March 24 visit due to the weather, we were a little nervous this week awaiting her arrival.”

The next arrial in Stornoway is scheduled to be Marco Polo on Tuesday, April 19.

Stornoway is expected to enjoy it’s busiest ever cruise season this year with a record-breaking 70 ships booked to visit.

More than 25,000 passengers are expected to pass through the port, some 10,000 more than last year.

The port is also scheduled to welcome it’s largest ever arrival with P&O’s Azura, which can carry 3,096 passengers, due to visit in June.

Another highlight will be Cunard’s MS Queen Elizabeth which will arrive in port on Wednesday, June 26.