LIVERPOOL’S new cruise liner landing stage was yesterday given its second big test, and despite choppy conditions in the Mersey, again passed with flying colours.

Now tourism chiefs in Liverpool are confident the successful start for the landing stage will lead to a surge in bookings in 2009.

The German-registered Deutschland, which brought hundreds of tourists to the city’s world-famous waterfront, docked exactly at 6am, the time scheduled for its arrival.

Just 12 hours earlier the very first arrival, the Seven Seas Voyager, left port after its smooth arrival on Sunday morning.

Despite being a smaller vessel the Deutschland arrived in what was a choppy river, but the pilots helped her make an effortless arrival at the new stage for the start of a two-day visit.

The successful baptism for the terminal now paves the way for the world’s most famous liner, the Queen Elizabeth 2, to arrive on September 21 to take part in the official naming ceremony of the new floating landing stage.

It also paves the way for the number of bookings by leading cruise operators to add Liverpool to their itineraries.

The city council’s tourism officer Keith Blundell and his staff have spoken to a number of passengers – mainly from over- seas – to have arrived in Liverpool.

Last night he said: “The feedback we received from passengers from both the Seven Seas Voyager and the Deutschland was uniformly positive. Passengers told us they were very impressed with Liverpool city centre and our central tourist attractions, especially the ease of being so close in the city from the landing site. Not many ports have landing stages so close to their city centres and this is a great advantage for Liverpool.

“Especially with the Deutsch-land, which has docked for two days, it means that passengers can get in and out of the town centre in a matter of minutes, meaning more time to see the city. Despite the more choppier conditions on Monday morning, the berthing was just as smooth as the previous Seven Seas Voyager, with no major problems occurring.”

Pilots who handled both the Seven Seas Voyager and the Deutschland also gave a positive feedback on the ease of the new landing stage to dock their ves- sels. So far, 16 ships have already been booked in for 2008, when Liverpool celebrates being European Capital of Culture.

Mr Blundell believes now the terminal is up and running it will make a big difference in the years to come.

He said: “Bookings are usually taken 18 months to two years in advance, so the opportunity for many more bookings next year may have passed. However, we will see a real surge in bookings from 2009. I am sure cruise companies will be influenced by the new landing site.”

Martin King, director of tourism at The Mersey Partner-ship, whose office overlooks the new terminal, was delighted with the opening of the new facility.

Last night he said: “It's been great to see cruise liner passen-gers from all over the world step-ping ashore on our world-famous waterfront over the past few days and I've no doubt the new facility will be a great asset for our tourist economy.

“Just two weeks ago, the Inter-national Passenger Survey showed overseas visitor numbers for Liverpool had tripled in three years – with overseas tourists spending an estimated £255m in 2006 alone. The cruise liner berth will boost these figures further, with thousands of cruise liner passengers already confirmed over the next 12 months.”

Ship evokes Edwardian splendour

THE Deutschland was built in 1998 and is operated by the highly rated cruise company Peter Deilmann. It carries just 513 passengers in exquisite luxury, with the internal decor of the classic liner designed as a floating grand hotel. It evokes the splendours of the Edwardian period and the Roaring Twenties. She started her 14-day trip in Hamburg on September 3 and visited Scotland and the Isle of Man before heading across the Irish Sea to Liverpool.