Cruise ship season has begun

With the visit of the large cruise liner 'Mein Schiff 1' the cruise ship season has begun in La Gomera. While a few cruise ships visit La Gomera all year round, the winter months are the busiest time for La Gomera's main port San Sebastian and five cruise ships will dock here this week alone. A good few smaller  cruise ships and sail training vessels  also visit the southwestern port of Valle Gran Rey and even the very large 'Thomson Majesty' is scheduled to dock there four times this winter.

Cruises are becoming an increasingly popular form of holidaying and there's a further 65 large cruise ships under construction at various shipyards all over Europe at the moment.

La Gomera has rated very highly with passengers, who are very impressed with the island's beauty and atmosphere, praising the quality of the shore excursions. Many passengers have voted the visit to La Gomera the highlight of their cruise.

This is good news, as even though most passengers do not spend all that much time and money here, some will return for longer stays and many more will recommend La Gomera as a holiday destination to family and friends. As we all know, word of mouth endorsements are the perfect publicity, of the type that money can't buy.

Some of the many buses awaiting passengers booked on shore excursions

Cruise ship season has begun

Cruise ship in the port of San Sebastian last season

Over the past few years La Gomera has been steadily gaining in popularity as a destination for cruise ships during the winter season. The pier of the island's capital San Sebastian has been extended once again during the summer, this time by a further 115 feet, to accommodate even larger cruise liners. This November alone the harbour will welcome nearly 14.000 cruise ship passengers in total. The largest cruise liner to call will be TUI-owned Mein Schiff 3 with 2500 guests aboard.

While the economic benefits of cruise ship calls are doubted by many locals, as they often see cruise ship passengers just buying a few postcards and stamps before they retire for lunch on their swimming all-inclusive hotels, the promotional value of the visits is often under-estimated. La Gomera has always scored  top marks in cruise passenger satisfaction ratings and when these passengers go back home most will recommend La Gomera for a longer holiday to their friends, relatives and neighbours and some will plan a return for a longer stay themselves. The shore excursions have also proven very popular and give direct employment for drivers and guides and additional business for restaurants and shops. Having worked as a tour guide in the past let me tell you that the tips are mostly generous anyway.

Tour buses awaiting guests one morning last winter