Niegdyś jeden z najniebezpieczniejszych portów lotniczych na świecie, a od wczoraj nowy terminal morski przyjmujący ogromne wycieczkowe promy.

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The Standard, Eddie Luk and Nectar Gan

The Kai Tak Cruise Terminal’s first visitor concluded its 20-hour stop amid a minor taxi hiccup. Mariner of the Seas, a 3,000-passenger ship operated by Royal Caribbean International, left for Japan at 4pm yesterday.

It will then proceed to South Korea and Shanghai. Tourism commissioner Philip Yung Wai-hung said the taxi shortage on Wednesday was quickly resolved and there was no such problem yesterday. Jeff Bent, managing director of Worldwide Cruise Terminals – the consortium that operates Kai Tak – said one of the three security companies mistakenly thought that no taxis should be allowed to enter the terminal.

That led to the absence of cabs between 8:30pm and 8:45pm on Wednesday. A male Malaysian tourist described it as “chaotic” after passengers spent “a long time to get on coaches to visit nearby shopping malls.” But others said they are bound to come back. “We hope that cruises can stop in Hong Kong for a longer period of time, say one or two days, so that we can have more time to shop,” said a woman tourist.

Travel Industry Council chairman Michael Wu Siu-ying said shuttle bus services should be provided by the terminal’s operator to connect Kai Tak to more areas. And these should include Kowloon City, shop managers there said.

Daisy Fong, of Yuen Hing Foods, said she did not see a single passenger. “This is not unexpected. There is no support in place to bring them to the old district,” she said. Kai Tak’s next visitor is the Voyager of the Seas, also from Royal Caribbean International, on October 15.