#CruiseIncrease – Dublin Port in 2017 is to welcome a total of 125 cruise calls an increase on last year, however Dun Laoghaire Harbour will have a repeat of last year with eight calls, writes Jehan Ashmore.
As previously reported on Afloat, Fred Olsen’s Boudicca became the first caller of the New Year and follows last year's total of 112 calls. Of these calls for season 2017 the most regular caller scheduled will be Princess Cruises 3,142 passenger 'Grand' class giant, Caribbean Princess.
The 112,894 gross tonnage ship hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons last year due to a power-failure and use of a 'magic polluting pipe'.
At Dun Laoghaire Harbour is where a handful of calls totalling eight cruiseships called in 2016. This is to be repeated with another welcome this year to the south Dublin Bay harbour. On previous seasons the total has been around a dozen calls.
The majority of callers been from operator Windstar Cruises. Once again their impressive five-mast sail assisted Wind Surf, the most frequent caller since the trade to the harbour was revived in 2011 is to make two visits in 2017. In addition to fleetmates but of conventional tonnage.
Afloat has examined the cruiseship list season 2017 and notably there will be no giant cruiseships making anchorage calls off Dun Laoghaire Harbour. This is due to smaller sized cruiseships and therefore they will be accommodated within the harbour alongside Carlisle Pier.
This year Dun Laoghaire Harbour can look forward to celebrating a significant milestone as it is the 200th anniversary of the beginning of its construction in 1817. This was to provide a port of 'refuge' with a single pier as originally planned. This pier ultimately became the East Pier, following the completion of this feat of marine engineering in 1842 with the building of the West Pier to form the ‘asylum’ harbour.
