UK REGIONAL CRUISING- THE RISE OF CHOICE

It's really only in the last few years that cruising from regional ports has become more prominent in the UK. Even as late as 2001, boarding a ship in the UK meant travelling down to Southampton and, to a lesser extent, Dover. The idea of being able to embark in, say, Belfast or Greenock would have been regarded as risible.

And yet now, we take it for granted. Passengers in high summer can board ships in ports as diverse as Plymouth and Newcastle's Port of Tyne. Liverpool- once the prime departure port for all transatlantic liners- has enjoyed a massive resurgence in recent years. So how has this change- nothing short of seismic- come about?

As so often with these things, you can trace the timeline back to America. The horrors of 9/11 turned millions off any kind of flying. In response, companies such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean introduced 'homeporting'- the process of taking ships to previously undreamed of embarkation ports, in order to tap into local markets that could simply drive to their chosen ship. It was a huge, unqualified success, and it remains so to this day.

It was Fred. Olsen that pioneered the British equivalent. With smaller, more intimate ships than the main commercial lines, the FOCL ships began to sail from regional ports over the summer, typically Rosyth and Newcastle. In time, the line expanded its offerings to include Belfast and Dublin, as well as Harwich, Liverpool and Tilbury, among others.

The success of this programme was so pronounced that a new player, Cruise and Maritime Voyages, emulated the precedent, as also did Thomson Cruises. As times changed, bigger and better equipped ships appeared in some unlikely embarkation ports, offering passengers a much richer, far more amenity laden series of cruising options than had ever been the case before; a process that continues to this day.

For example, 2018 will see the arrival on the Tyne of TUI Discovery for a series of cruises. This 70,000 ton ship will be far and away the largest ever to embark passengers at Port of Tyne on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Tilbury will gain the 63,000 ton Columbus on a year round basis. Again, she will be the largest passenger ship ever to embark regular cruise passenger loads at that historic port.

More choices. Larger ships. More options. No wonder cruising from the regions has enjoyed a surge in popularity that shows no signs of subsiding yet.