- Visitors praise the experience, including timed arrival slots and safety measures. The exceptionally warm welcome from staff tops feedback.
- From this weekend (1 August), every corner of the Victorian dockyard, two museums, dry dock and historic ship will be open to explore. Tickets are still available for most time slots at ssgreatbritain.org.
- Mr Brunel has taken on the role of chief welcoming officer, complete with a new addition to his attire – a face visor. He has even fronted a ‘welcome back’ video that gives visitors a taste of what to expect.
Brunel’s SS Great Britain – Europe’s most-welcoming museum (European Museum of the Year Awards 2019) – re-opened on 18 July and has been welcoming visitors back with incredible reviews and feedback.
Visitors have praised the attraction for providing plenty of hand sanitiser stations and easy-to-follow one-way routes to explore the ship and two museums. Reviewers also value the ease of pre-booking arrival timeslots online which has eliminated queuing.
Above all else, TripAdvisor reviews single out staff and volunteers for the exceptionally friendly welcome:
The staff were so welcoming and friendly, all the information they gave was fascinating and the story of the shop is incredible. Everyone was so approachable, and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit which was decided at the last minute and what a great decision that was, we are likely to return in the future! (TripAdvisor 25 July)
The site had recently re-opened and all the staff were thrilled to be back at work, some were even on their first day back. We were greeted by a welcoming gentleman dressed as Brunel (he also took the time to speak to as we left, asking about our visit) who made sure our tickets and booking slot were all in order. The rest of the team clearly love their work as their enthusiasm was infectious. (TripAdvisor 26 July)
While most of the site has been open for two weeks already, access to the historic dry dock has required the addition of a new exit route. From Saturday 1 August a one-way route takes visitors below the water line into the dry dock which provides a carefully controlled conservation environment for the 177-year-old hull. For the first time in the museum’s history, visitors will now exit the dry dock from a stairway coming out beside the Grade II listed Dock Office building.
Liam Tolhurst, Head of Visitor Experience for the SS Great Britain Trust, said:
“Almost every TripAdvisor review singles out the welcome from our staff and volunteers which means a lot to the team. We know visitors are guaranteed a safe day out, but it’s equally important that they feel incredibly welcome. With the dry dock re-opening, and the addition of a short film screening in one of our largest covered spaces, it really is a full day out. There are plenty of outdoor picnic tables in the dockyard and alongside our outdoor photography exhibition.”
Tickets to visit Brunel’s SS Great Britain, which include free revisits for a year, can be booked here
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About Brunel’s SS Great Britain
Brunel’s SS Great Britain is one of the UK’s top museums, recently winning the European Museum of the Year Award for Europe’s Most Welcoming Museum, the Portimao Prize. The SS Great Britain is now in her original dry dock where she was built in 1843. Visitors can have a full day out, in and under the ship and explore the life and works of one of the world’s greatest engineers in Being Brunel.
Brunel’s SS Great Britain is Bristol’s number one visitor attraction (TripAdvisor 2019-20). It is home to the world’s first great ocean liner, the SS Great Britain, the Being Brunel museum experience, and the Brunel Institute, which houses one of the world’s finest maritime and Brunel collections. The charity that manages and maintains Brunel’s SS Great Britain and collections is the SS Great Britain Trust.