I don't know if any of the UK 365er's saw a programme on Monday on BBC1 called Orkney, When the Boat Comes In, about the impact the cruise ships are having on the Orkney Islands ?
Kirkwall is the cruise ship capital of the UK. This year all of the worlds major cruise lines will dock here, bringing over 120,000 visitors a year. There will be a record 140 ships docking there this year.
Sometimes there are three in there at the same time, Kirkwall's population of around 9,000 can be more than doubled on some days. It does get crowded in the streets sometimes.
I saw several while I was there, there is room for two where these two are, there is also room for another one on the other side of bay, near where the ferries run from.
The one in front here is the AIDAluna, with room for 2,100 guests and a crew of 607, the smaller one partly hidden, is the Saga Pearl 2, with up to 602 guests and 220 crew.
They might make the place very busy at times, but they do bring about £6,000,000 to the local economy each year.
Yes, it was interesting. When we were there last year we were given a list of cruise liner visits and warned to stay away from the tourist hot spots on those dates. Needless to say we did, it wasn't hard to find something else to do!
It was very interesting to watch.