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Displaying items by tag: All Leisure Group

#BackForMore - All Leisure Group (ALH), the UK cruise group, has signed a three-year agreement with Portsmouth International Port that will extend a relationship that begin in 2010 to 2018.

The group owns three well-known companies; Swan Hellenic, Voyages of Discovery and Hebridean Island Cruises. During the last five years ships from each company have visited Portsmouth, a decision based on transport connections, location and investment in new facilities.

The new three-year agreement with ALH starts this month and is a vote of confidence for the Hampshire port that celebrates its 40th anniversary this year having begun operating as a ferryport.

The cruise team at Portsmouth offers a wide range of services to visiting cruiseships, with an ever-growing reputation for handling luxury smaller-sized ships.

For the last five years Swan Hellenic’s Minerva has been based at Portsmouth International Port for cruises in Northern Europe, the Baltic and Scandinavia. That relationship will continue for at least another three years, with Minerva starting Portsmouth 2016 cruise season on 15 April.

The first cruise of next year from the famous ‘Waterfront City’ will see passengers taken on a two-week holiday to explore three fascinating French rivers – the Loire, the Seine and the Garonne.

Throughout the summer the 350 passenger Minerva with ‘country house hotel’ facilities offers a varied and distinctive series of nine cruises from Portsmouth, including visits to the glorious gardens of Europe.

Afloat has identified a cruise by Minerva with a call to Dublin Port in late summer as part of a 14-day ‘Celtic Traditions & Edinburgh Tatoo’ cruise.

Other destinations include the Baltic, an Icelandic quest, the Norwegian fjords, the Scottish Highlands and Islands and a chance to discover the treasures of Portugal and Spain.

Published in Cruise Liners

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!