Windermere Lake Cruises is working closely with coach and tour operators, group travel organisers and travel trade professionals to continue to welcome groups and coach parties on all their services in a COVID-secure way.
Attractive incentives for all pre-booked groups remain in place at the Boatman’s Cafe in Bowness. For passengers, these include 10% discount vouchers to use in the cafe and gift shop, along with new menus, table service, and convenient toilet access. For drivers and group guides, the attraction offers free parking, group rates, a voucher for refreshments and the opportunity to purchase local gift at a reduced rate and to re-sell to passengers at the full rate.
In line with Government advice, new procedures are in place at Windermere Lake Cruises which means all coaches must be pre-booked, with coach parking available exclusively to parties who have booked a cruise. The COVID-secure measure also mean that passengers must be pre-booked onto their preferred sailing – seat allocation plans are in place to ensure social distancing is adhered to for those not part of the same household or support bubble.
Sales & Marketing Director Jennifer Cormack said, “Our goal is simply to make sure that all our passengers can enjoy a cruise on Lake Windermere during the pandemic, whilst following government guidelines for the safety of our visitors and staff.
“We have made changes to our timetables and have seating allocations to enable us to control the number of passengers onboard. We have new cleaning procedures in place, hand sanitisation stations both onboard and prior to boarding, and we politely remind all operators and passengers to ensure face coverings are worn on board.”
Windermere Lake Cruises is also continuing to work in close collaboration with many local attractions and businesses including sister-attraction Lakeland Motor Museum to offer packages such as Transport Trio, which includes entry to the Lakeland Motor Museum, sailing with Windermere Lake Cruises and a journey on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.
Jennifer continued, “We’re delighted to be working with other great businesses in the area, but it is important to note that each element of a combined itinerary must be pre-booked and adhere to the COVID-secure procedures in place at each attraction. We want our visitors to experience more enjoyment for great value and we’re delighted to be able to support that, in reaction to previous feedback from the travel trade.”
Windermere Lake Cruises is a three-times finalist at the British Coach Tourism Awards for its work to accommodate coach parties and their drivers, winning top honours twice in recent years. The Lakeland Motor Museum also boasts an extensive, free car park with enough room for multiple coach parties. A shuttle-bus service is also in place at Lakeside to transport visitors between the museum and Windermere lake.
“We’re really excited to be in a position to welcome our valued group travel and coach parties back, and by working with other award-winning family attractions dotted around the lake, we can make sure a visit to The Lake District, Cumbria, will be a memorable one for everyone”, Jennifer added.
For more information on Windermere Lake Cruises’ COVID-secure operating procedures please visit the website.
