The largest cruise ship ever to visit the Forth dropped anchor in the shadow of the famous bridges on Tuesday.
The towering MSC Meraviglia, carrying around 4,500 passengers and 1,000 crew, stayed in the Forth for a 12-hour visit.
It was a busy day for Visit Queensferry and the CruiseForth Welcome Volunteers who were working harder than ever to ensure the visitors enjoyed their stay and had a chance to explore South Queensferry, as well as visiting other attractions in the area.
Keith Giblett, the chairman of Queensferry and District Community Council, said: “While passengers may have Edinburgh as the main focus of their travel plans, it is important that as many as possible can find their way into Queensferry to discover as many of our local shops and businesses as possible.
“To that end the local community council and Cruise Forth are working with the City of Edinburgh Council officers and stakeholders seeking improvements to operational matters in and around the Hawes promenade.”
Peter Wilson, who leads the CruiseForth project which has grown from strength to strength since it started out in 2011, said this year is already set to be the busiest for cruise passengers landing at the Hawes Pier, with around 70,000 visitors from 24 ships expected ashore.
He added the massive MSC Meraviglia presented a major challenge for everyone involved.
Too large for the bridges, it anchored in the Forth, with passengers – and Cruise Forth volunteers – ferried to and from by tender.
Despite that, Mr Wilson added: “Our Welcome Volunteers will be making every effort to share information about the local opportunities in and around South Queensferry.”
Cruise Forth was established seven years ago as a joint project involving Forth Ports, Fife Council, Leith Chamber of Commerce, Falkirk Council, Fife Chamber of Commerce, Marketing Edinburgh, Abellio ScotRail, and local business networks.
Its aim is to promote local business opportunities to the rising number of international cruise ships coming into the Forth while also providing information to the passengers disembarking ay Rosyth, South Queensferry, Leith and Newhaven.
It has won a number of local and national awards for its work in improving the local visitor welcome and promoting new visitor opportunities.
