The cruise ship, Norwegian Sky, with a capacity for almost 2,000 passengers, had cancelled its scheduled call to Dunmore East on the Waterford estuary.
This led to passengers instead arriving to Cobh, Cork Harbour, on 18 July, before passengers were taken by coaches across southern Munster to reach Waterford for a full day of excursions.
In response to the diverted Norwegian Cruise Lines vessel, Waterford City and County Council initially confirmed that the 77,000 tons vessel would not be calling offshore of Dunmore East.
However, in an update, the local authority said Norwegian Sky had successfully berthed in Cobh, where Excursions Ireland arranged coach transfers to Co. Waterford.
The cruise guest itinerary included visits to various visitor attractions throughout the county, however, at the time of WLR-FM’s report, it was not known how many passengers would make the journey between the cities.
Arising from the diversion has led to renewed calls for a permanent cruise ship infrastructure at Dunmore East, which had been considered as far back as 2019.
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