#AnchorageCallers – A pair of cruiseships are to anchor off Dunmore East next week bringing a potential capacity of 1,940 passengers in total to the south-east region along with more than 1,500 crew, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The arrival of two cruiseships to Dunmore East at the mouth of Waterford Estuary has happened before in recent years. On this occasion the ships due next Tuesday are Thompson Spirit (1983/33,390grt) from Falmouth and Crystal Symphony (1991/51,044grt) whose last port of call is scheduled to be from St. Peter Port, Guernsey.
Thompson Spirit is due to arrive first and anchor around 08.00hrs and followed by Crystal Symphony at 09.30hrs. The former ship is a relatively new caller to Irish waters operating for Thompson Cruises since 2012 and serving the UK market based out of English east coast ports while Crystal Cruises have been a regular customer to the Port of Waterford.
Passengers will be transferred ashore by tenders to the pontoon facility within Dunmore East's joint fishing and leisure harbour which is sited along a scenic stretch of the Waterford coastline.Time spent ashore will be approximately 7-8 hours to explore visitor attractions providing an economic boost to the region where a total of 10 cruise callers (using Dunmore East) are scheduled in this year's season.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Port of Waterford handles cruiseships throughout the estuary, asides Dunmore East, callers can berth at Belview, the main port or along the city quays.
