Topic: Cruise bosses give Milford Haven centre the thumbs down

According to the Milford Mercury cruise ship bosses visiting Milford Haven recently were so turned off by the town centre that they've put a stop to passengers being taken to the area.



The comments were revealed in a report to the town’s business circle which are being seen as a rallying call that something must be done to improve things.

The report said: “Although they [the chief executive officers] were impressed by the marina and the town front, they were so shocked at the state of Charles Street they instructed that they did not want their passengers taken into the town centre in future.”

Cruise ship co-ordinator Sue Blanchard-Williams, who showed the executives around the town, said: “The CEOs said people will not stay in the town for eight hours because there’s nothing for them to do.

“We get marked on what we present when passengers come to the area, whether it’s the port or the town or the people in the town, and if we do not meet a certain standard, which is quite high, those vessels will not come back.”

Mrs Blanchard-Williams said it was the empty shops around the town, which were off-putting to the executives.

She said: “Lots of areas in Pembrokeshire are run down, and I know we are never going to have big shopping in Charles Street, but something needs to be done to make it look less bleak.”

Milford Haven town councillor Anne Hughes said she was looking into getting funding to improve the town centre.

She said: “We have to fly the flag for Milford Haven. It takes time and money, and that is difficult to come by.

“I hope we can all somehow jump in the deep end and make a difference, not just paddle with our toes in the shallow end. We have to grasp the problem and try to achieve something.”

County Councillor Viv Stoddart, who was on the chamber of trade in 2006, said they have been pushing the matter at Pembrokeshire County Council but nothing has been done.

She said: “There’s been meetings and chatter and now it’s 2011 and still nothing is happening.”

The cruise ships’ CEOs’ comments came to light in the same week that 13 new tour guides were appointed as Pembrokeshire ambassadors in a bid to attract more cruise ships to Milford Haven.

Mrs Blanchard-Williams added: “The cruise business is increasing, and we will get more vessels again next year, but in order to get people to spend more money in the town, we have to work together.

“Milford Haven has so much to offer, and I think leaving empty shop windows is just a lost opportunity.”

Do live near Milford Haven? How do you think the town centre increase it's cruise appeal?

You could apply that report to many so called cruise destinations these days. If its on the coast, lets make it a cruise ship destination. Ridiculous.

Another town which is affected by lack of cruise ship visitors, and visitors in general, is Dover.
It is a very successful and popular ferry port and cruise terminal, yet few cruisers want to visit the town as there is little there of much interest to sustain them during an 8 hour stay.
The exception is, of course, Dover Castle which, with its new look Great Tower interior, furnished as it would have looked in the reign of Henry II, and the Wartime Tunnels, is sufficient to keep people interested in our heritage for many an hour.
However, this does little to maintain a reasonable level of visitor numbers to the town centre itself which has a somewhat hangdog appearance, with its lack of a proper focal point, empty shops and amenities. There is an excellent museum, I grant you, and the superb Roman Painted House, but, again, these are of relatively short duration in time spent.
Consequently, most cruise lines will offer a day excursion to places such as Canterbury, London, Leeds Castle and so on.
Dover keeps talking about 'improvements', like cable car access to the Castle from the town and a high level, pedestrian walkway. Pie-in-the-Sky, perhaps.
I speak as someone who once had close association with Dover and it was, I assure you, very different 50 years ago. It had a real community spirit, based on the dreadful, wartime experiences suffered by the population, but that is now mostly gone.
I daresay, like Milford Haven, there are stories like this to be heard in ports all over the UK, sadly.

This is the same in many small towns these days....our nearest town has empty or charity shops, and was proud to boast last year that The World cruise ship passengers spent money in Poundland....
I thought at the time that it was probably the crew....
At the beginning of this recession, we visited Monaco, and saw plenty of empty shops up back streets.
Jo.

That's often the case, Walker, Seascale!
We docked in Palermo in April to be confronted by the most tortuous and obstructive route into a town centre we've ever encountered!
After negotiating barriers, port traffic and so on, we emerged onto a road where there was a 'pedestrian crossing', only to find that we were obstructed by vehicles parked directly on the crossing. We were then forced to cross a very busy road further up, trying to avoid death by dangerous driving.
Having survived, and counting our lucky stars, we then discovered the place to be noisy, dirty, shabby, graffiti strewn, and with few shops or facilities of any interest to tourists looking for an 8-hour shoreside spell.
My advice to anyone going there - don't bother - try a ship's excursion instead!
My award to the best port/town centre on that cruise has to go to Barcelona, which was a real joy!

shame they can't get in to Cardiff - its a fab place to visit. Great shopping, the castle, the Welsh Museum, great waterfront on the Bay.

Why not offer trips too nearby attractions such as Pembroke and Carew castle's?Or the beautiful seaside town of Tenby with a boat trip to the lovely island of Caldey.Pembrokeshire has many wonderful places to visit so there would be no need of just to stay in Milford Haven.

I wish that more cruise ships would call into Falmouth, or should I say, I wish that we could start our cruise from there. It would save us the long trip to Southampton.

Here's some photos which we took of The World when she visited this May...

Looks like you could step right off the bow onto your apartment balcony, Pippa!
We enjoyed our stop in Falmouth and found many small shops where we bought gifts for Christmas! (shopping in real shops being a bit of a novelty for us.... )
Jo.