Cruise Industry
The Port of Southampton has the largest share of the UK cruise passenger market (62 per cent of UK cruise passengers in 2004) and the largest cruise ships call there. The port currently has three cruise terminals but A fourth cruise terminal is to be constructed at Associated British Ports' (ABP) Port of Southampton after ABP and Carnival UK signed a major, 20-year contract in December 2007. As part of the agreement, ABP will invest £19m in the new terminal, which will be built at Ocean Dock opposite the site of the old Ocean Terminal.
The agreement will also give Carnival UK - the world's leading cruise company, whose cruise brands include Cunard, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises - priority use of the port's Queen Elizabeth II and Mayflower Terminals, further strengthening the group's relationship with the port.
The docks regularly host some of the greatest liners in the world such as the Queen Mary 2 and the largest ever built cruise ships, the Navigator and Freedom of the Seas. Cunard Line's Queen Victoria is based in Southampton and P&O Cruises' Ventura, the largest cruise ship ever to be built for the UK market which will be home-ported here from April 2008.
The cruise market has changed a lot over the last 20 years, but Southampton has remained the home of the industry in the UK.
Over the last few years, Southampton's cruise industry has gone from strength to strength, reflecting the consuming public's ever-growing demand for luxury cruise holidays. There has been a period of unprecedented growth for Southampton's cruise industry, with 245 cruise calls and over 800,000 passengers passing through the port in 2007 and 290 cruise calls and close to one million passengers expected in 2008.
The ongoing revival of Southampton's cruise business is a triumph, not just for port and its partners, but also for the maritime culture of the city of Southampton and the economy of the whole southeast. The region's businesses thrive on a healthy cruise market and it makes a massive economic contribution to the region.
Farewell to QE2
QE2 spent 35 years as the Cunard flagship and has travelled over 5.6 million nautical miles, more than any other ship; has carried over 2.5 million guests; has completed 25 World Cruises; and has crossed the Atlantic 803 times. QE2 leaves the Cunard fleet in November 2008 to begin her new life in Dubai as a first class hotel and entertainment destination.
In October 2008 QE2 embarked on her final lap of the British Isles. She was met at each port by crowds gathering to say goodbye and catch a final glimpse of this legendary liner.
At 1100am crowds gathered along Southampton’s shoreline as a Tigermoth flew overhead and dropped one million poppies over her to commemorate Remembrance Day, mark QE2’s role in the Falklands and note the fact that her final departure is on 11 November.
At 1340 QE2 was greeted with another spectacular goodbye from a Harrier that flew past, hovered and bowed to her.
QE2 finally departed in a spectacular send-off to celebrate her life with Cunard. At 1915 she left the QEII Terminal in Southampton for the last time amongst a chorus of cheering from the crowds and whistles from the flotilla that surrounded her in the Solent.
She made her way toward Mayflower Park to bid Southampton goodbye where there was a magnificent firework display before she sailed back and on her final voyage to her new home in Dubai, sounding her whistle as she left.
