More than 2,000, mainly American, passengers from the large resort ship Crown Princess came into Falmouth over the weekend with another 900 passengers opting to go on a number of excursions around Cornwall in 22 luxury coaches.

Once again the visit highlighted the importance of the port being dredged to allow these ships alongside as tendering so many people ashore by boat becomes a nightmare.

With a vessel safely secured alongside passengers can come and go at their leisure through a terminal building which avoids the long queues that inevitably occur at the dockside when handling so many people using boats.

With south easterly winds and moderate swell conditions forecast for the bay, at the 11th hour Captain Nick Nash, master of the 113,000 ton vessel, who lives near Penzance, asked if his ship could anchor in the Cross Channel anchorage with stern mooring ropes to Number 5 mooring buoy. Following talks with the pilots, harbour master Captain Mark Sansom gave the final permission for the leviathan to enter port.

If the ship had cancelled her cruise call the Port of Falmouth, the town, and indeed Cornwall, would have lost out on the huge amount of money such a call generates for the local economy.

Falmouth’s youngest pilot, Alex Head, had the honour of piloting the 290-metre Crown Princess into port. The ship’s half- sister Grand Princess had carried out the same manoeuvre in 2004. Aided by two harbour tugs Crown Princess came up into the Carrick Roads where she turned in the Cross Channel using her azipod propulsion system and powerful bow thrusters.

Down aft, pilot Nick Martin advised Alex Head on the clearances, aided by laser gun technology to monitor the distance from Number 5 mooring buoy.

Alex said: “The job went extremely well. It was a team effort with Captain Nash and I working alongside the ship’s navigating team.”

Four pilots were involved in the operation. Nick Martin assisted Alex Head whilst Jason Willis-Richards acted as second pilot with Dave Pickston who sailed the vessel. Captain Nash told Denholm Barwill shipping agent Mr Geoff Hoyle that he was “absolutely delighted with the professional service he received from Falmouth pilots.”

Once safely moored, a fleet of ship’s tenders, helped by local pleasure boats, ferried ashore nearly 3,000 passengers to the docks where the Falmouth Ambassadors, a dedicated team of local people welcomed the visitors ashore, guiding them to excursion coaches or to the three shuttle buses laid on to take them into the town. See Cruise call provides challenge for Falmouth Volunteers.

For those interested in statistics Crown Princess has 1,557 cabins, 1,105 with an exterior view. She boasts four large outdoor swimming pools, 14 lifts, numerous restaurants, and a large casino.

Resort ships are for those who enjoy a city type life.

With more than 5,000 people onboard, including the crew, the ships are not for passengers looking for a peaceful cruise.

Crown Princess sailed almost on schedule for Dublin and Iceland to continue her cruise from Europe to the eastern seaboard of the USA and Canada.