They included 35, 000 cruise ship visitors, and more than 300, 000 people travelling on the regular Amsterdam ferry route.

BBC: Record number of cruise ships to dock at Port of Tyne

Sadly, most visitors to the city experience only a tiny section of the ferry route, shuttling between Saphan Taksin pier in the south and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha or Khao San Road in the north (there are piers close to both).

BBC: Take the boat out of Bangkok

It will replace the Viking ferry, which has carried more than a million passengers in over 3, 000 sailings in seven years on the route.

BBC: New Steam Packet vessel unveiled