Liverpool's cruise terminal celebrated the landmark of welcoming its millionth passenger.
Cruise Liverpool opened in 2007 and Friday saw the millionth person pass through the terminal as Fred Olson's flagship Borealis set sail from Liverpool to Morocco and Cape Verde. Travelling together, Lorriane Douglas and Janet Griffiths will have to fight among themselves as to who was the millionth passenger.
Lorraine and Janet, from the Scottish borders, were taken out of the regular check in line and presented with a number of gifts. As Cliff Richard's ‘Congratulations’ was played over the speakers and confetti cannons were set off, the two were awarded for becoming the landmark passengers.
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The pair won an upgrade on their Borealis trip, an overnight stay with breakfast at Liverpool city centre’s Hotel Indigo, dinner and drinks at The Alchemist, a commemorative Liver Bird and tickets to the British Music Experience.
Lorraine, whose daughter lives in Wallasey, told the ECHO: "I was amazed, I wasn’t expecting anything like that at all - it was very nice. Wonderful really.
"We came down to Liverpool yesterday, drove down to get on here. We're very much looking forward to going to Morocco, I’ve been three times before and I love it."
Angie Redhead, head of city events at Liverpool City Council told the ECHO: “Our millionth passenger today - never did I think when our first ship called in in 2007 that we would see the like.
"But here we are. It feels quite momentous really, not just for the cruise terminal but for the city. The economic impact is incredible - about £100m has been generated in impact since we opened.
"But I do think it runs deeper than that as well. Having ships back on the Mersey really means something to people and we know that from the amount of footfall that we see even a regular visitor like Fred Olsen can attract."
Looking to the future, Angie said: "The next target is two million passengers. We never want to lose that special feeling that we know we can give to every single passenger - whether you’re the first or the millionth, that doesn’t matter to us, and we will treat every single one specially.
"That’s what we will continue to do - growing our business, bringing our ships in, we’ve got our busiest year ever with over 120 ships calling in this year and we just want to keep doing what we’re doing and create the best memories for every passenger."
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