#BoutiqueYacht – Making a maiden Irish port of call was mega yacht Variety Voyager that brought yesterday a refreshing change in Dublin Port where the trend is for considerably larger giant sized ships, writes Jehan Ashmore.
At just 1,593 gross tonnage the boutique sized cruiseship Variety Voyager with capacity for only 72 guests pampered in ultra-luxury docked next to the Tom Clark Toll-Bridge. The 2012 built sleek four passenger-deck mega yacht had sailed overnight from Holyhead. Notably the call to the north Wales ferryport took place in the inner harbour where the Stena HSS fastferry craft had served Dun Laoghaire but currently only caters for small cruiseships.
The 60 odd nautical mile crossing that is between Holyhead to Dublin takes ferries just over three hours to complete, however the 68m/223ft mega-yacht took a more leisurely eight hour passage. The debut call to Dublin represented the first of seven calls scheduled this season by the boutique mega yacht's upmarket Greek operator Variety Cruises.
Variety Voyager is the largest of the Athens based operator of 11 mega yachts and motor sailers. They are also the largest mega yachts operator in the Mediterranean and one of the top 3 worldwide in the Small Ship market. In 2016-2017, Variety Cruises won in The ‘Best Boutique Cruise Line’ by USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards.
Cruising in one of these small ships offer guests (4 to 5 star luxury) which offerr the ultimate mega-yacht experience. With capacities ranging from 5 to 36 cabins, it is the latter capacity that relates to Variety Voyager whose guests are served by 33 crew.
As one would expect from a mega-yacht, Variety Voyager has cabins and public areas finished with warm fabrics, rich marbles, Axminster carpeting and soft tones wood panelling. Everywhere, unobstructed views of the ocean and of the ports visited.
Asides operating throughout the Mediterranean, Variety Cruises global ports destinations include Cuba and The Seychelles. In addition to the Irish debut, new for 2017 is that the operator have added destinations further into the Atlantic with cruises to Iceland along with southern hemisphere calls to Madagascar and the Mozambique Islands.
