By
Alice Chambers |
Port of Dover welcomed the inaugural visit of Princess Cruises’ Island Princess on 10 August 2022.
The port’s relationship with the cruise line was enhanced earlier this year when Island Princess transported a recycled plastic stand the port had used to exhibit at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami, Florida, back to the UK.
Port of Dover’s cruise team met with the ship’s captain to present a plaque to commemorate the occasion and to thank the crew for transporting the stand materials back to the UK.
Once the stand was returned to the UK, the port recycled the plastic to turn it into four sets of children’s tables and chairs to ensure that the waste was not returned to the sea or landfill.
During the plaque presentation, Port of Dover’s head of cruise Sonia Limbrick and chief commercial officer Christian Pryce gifted Island Princess with a table and four chairs for the onboard Camp Discovery Kids Centre. Each chair has a sticker on the back to show the story of the plastic originally having been retrieved from the sea, recycled into an exhibition stand and then made into the table and chair sets.
“The port is delighted to welcome the Island Princess for the first time today, midway through the busy summer cruise season,” said Limbrick. “It’s always a pleasure to host Princess Cruises and we hope that Dover’s offering – including strong transport links, beautiful surroundings and our sustainable credentials – will mean this is the first of many calls by the Island Princess to the port.
The remaining sets of tables and chairs will be donated to local school in Dover and will provide the opportunity for children to learn about the importance of recycling.
“I am grateful to the Port of Dover for their warm welcome this morning and pleased to receive this plaque marking our inaugural call to the port,” said Captain Lorentzen of Island Princess. “In June, we were delighted to assist with the return of the port’s sustainable Seatrade stand, ensuring that it was able to journey back to the UK contributing zero additional emissions. We are therefore overjoyed to receive one of the recycled table and chair sets to use in our Camp Discovery Kids Centre and look forward to using them to teach our younger guests the importance of protecting our seas.”