#CRUISE LINERS – In dense sea-fog conditions, three cruiseships arrived into Dublin Bay at dawn and proceeded to dock in Dublin Port, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Of the trio, Kristina Katarina (1982/12,668grt) today made her inaugural call to the port. As previously reported on Afloat.ie she is operated by Finnish owners Kristina Cruises based in Kotka, a city midway between Helsinki and sharing the border with the Russian Federation.

The other vessels, P&O Cruises Adonia (2001/30,277grt) and Silverseas Cruises Cloud (1994/16,927grt) are berthed within Alexandra Basin, nearby Kristina Katarina is moored on the river berth at Ocean Pier.

Reported last month another tree-some of cruiseships gathered in the port, which this year is scheduled to see around 90 such cruise callers during the season.

#CRUISE LINERS - Finnish operated Kristina Katarina is to make her inaugural 'Irish' call this Thursday when she and two other cruiseships are scheduled to arrive in Dublin Port, writes Jehan Ashmore.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the newcomer is run by Kristina Cruises based in Kotka which lies some 50kms from the border with the Russian Federation. In 2010 the former Russian ship was brought to replace the ageing twin funnelled Kristina Regina.

The change of vessel was due to new safety regulations which forced the veteran vessel to withdraw from service with the replacement vessel built in 1982 at the New Szczecin Shipyard. The name of the Polish port city may sound familiar as the city is yet again the presenting sponsor of the prestigious Tall Ship Race Festival due to visit the capital in over a fortnight's time.

Kristina Katarina has a passenger certificate for around 400-passengers and she underwent renovations for her new owners. This saw changes to cabin accommodation where categories begin with the smallest inside cabins of 9m² to high standard ocean view cabins occupying 30m². In total she has a total of 193 cabins and 380 lower beds.

During the renovation new saunas were installed on deck 8 and on the pool deck there are three pools to cater for all the age-profiles of passengers.

After her Irish call she is to visit the Isles of Scilly and then to Brest, marking the end of a cruise. From the Breton port with its naval base, a new cruise embarks with passengers on a week long fly-cruise starting from Helsinki. The itinerary includes calls in Portugal, Gibraltar and Spain, where in Malaga the cruise terminates and a return flight to the Finnish capital.

#CRUISE LINERS – In 2012 the Dublin Port Company can look forward to welcoming 90 cruiseship calls, slightly up compared to this year's season, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The sector in 2011 performed positively with a 7.5% increase in cruise passengers on board 87 cruise-calls. In total  they brought over 135,000 passengers and crew to the capital, generating between €35 - €55m to the local economy.

The increase in passengers brings the total number of high-spend cruise passengers to almost 750,000 since 2000, providing a boon to city-centre businesses to the tune of over €400m in that period.

Once again cruiseships from the leading operators are scheduled to Dublin Port in 2012. They will appear in the form of  the small, medium and giant-sized ships, many of which will be making more than one cruisecall throughout the season, which starts in April and culminates in October.

To view a timetable of cruiseships calling to Dublin Port see below.

A newcomer will be Kristina Katarina (1982/12,668grt) which is operated by Finnish owners Kristina Cruises. The former Russian ship replaced Kristina Regina last year due to new safety regulations which forced the veteran vessel to withdraw from service. 

Mediterranean Shipping Lines (MSL) which operates container services to Ireland, will be deploying the 1,560 passenger MSC Lirica (2003/59,038grt). To view more about this French built cruiseship click HERE.

While the veteran Arion (1965/5,888grt) makes a welcome return for those with an affinity to smaller classic vessels, she orignially served in the Adriatic and was built at the Uljanik Shipyard in Pula, Croatia.