Double double for the Cornwall town visited by two huge cruise ships

Residents of a Cornish town were in for a double take this morning (Wednesday, May 22) as two huge cruise ships passed each other on back-to-back visits. Arriving at dawn, the huge Vista-class cruise ship Zuiderdam anchored off Falmouth’s Pendennis Point, just in time to bid farewell to the 60,000-tonne Spirit of Adventure as it glided past her towards horizon.

Bringing 900 passengers to the city yesterday, the Spirit of Adventure spent the night docked in the harbor before departing just after 7am. A huge ship in its own right, the Spirit of Adventure, which is the equivalent of 22 London buses in length, was overtaken by the 291m Zuiderdam, which arrived with more than twice as many passengers.

Owned and operated by Holland America Line, the Zuiderdam is one of the largest cruise ships visiting Falmouth this year. It’s actually two feet longer than the huge Caribbean Princess that anchored a small bay off the Roseland peninsula last week.

Read more: Dramatic footage as large cruise ship docks on tiny beach

After Spirit of Adventure, Zuiderdam is the third cruise ship to visit Falmouth in the last three days. However, as gigantic as this cruise ship is, it is no match for the 181,541-ton MSC Virtuosa, which is due to visit the city next week, bringing 5,000 passengers.

There are 16 images in this photo story – click the “Next” button at the bottom of the page to see them all.