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Displaying items by tag: 4th Cancelled Cruisecall

4th June 2015

Dun Laoghaire Cruise Calls Reduced from 22 to 18 Or Less?

Dun Laoghaire Cruise Calls Reduced from 22 to 18 Or Less?

#AnotherCancellation– Another cruiseship has cancelled a call to Dun Laoghaire Harbour in favour of Dublin Port, bringing to four in total on what was to be a record season of 22 callers for the south Dublin Bay port, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The giant 142,000 tonnes Royal Princess with a 3,600 passenger capacity will not be making its originally scheduled call tomorrow (5th June) according to the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company.

Instead the cancellation of the 330m (1,083ft) Royal Princess will see the Italian built ship dock in Dublin Port in the early hours of tomorrow morning. This will be her second visit to the capital port having previously cancelled an anchorage call off Dun Laoghaire only last month.

Of the 22 calls originally scheduled for Dun Laoghaire, four have cancelled, two have made visits so far (both at anchor) requiring passengers be tendered ashore. This leaves 16 cruise calls (4 to berth in harbour) remaining throughout the season ending in September.

The double successive cancellations of Royal Princess within a fortnight has further reduced Dun Laoghaire's record season of 22 cruise calls. Should however all 18 calls in total be achieved this will still be a record season for the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company which restored the business in recent years given the backdrop of the declining ferry service to Wales which closed last year. 

Conflicting schedules however surround the Princess Cruises operated ship which according to the Dublin Port Company website is to see Royal Princess make another call on 29 June, the same day she is scheduled to visit off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Royal Princess is scheduled to be the most frequent caller to Dun Laoghaire this season with a total of 9 calls, despite two of these calls cancelled. She is expected to make six more calls.

The French built cruiseship has only made a single anchorage call off Dun Laoghaire Harbour on 12 May, a day after MSC Splendida cancelled an inaugural opening season call off the south Dublin Bay port.

The 3,100 passenger MSC Splendida subsequently cancelled a second call in May to Dun Laoghaire but switched to Dublin Port to make a repeat astern 'reverse' docking call, (see report).

MSC Cruises cited their decision to use Dublin Port rather than anchor off Dun Laoghaire Harbour was due to the positive passenger feedback been so close to the capital, allowing more time to spend ashore. Interestingly, the MSC Splendida will after all be calling to Dun Laoghaire Harbour as Afloat.ie has confirmed she is finally to make her maiden call offshore on 29 August.

Another reason for the change of decision according to DLHC was that MSC Splendida choose Dublin Port to avail of the high-tide and berth alongside Alexandra Basin West, where a proposed €30m double-cruise berth terminal is to be located close to the East-Link bridge.

The proposed terminal would enable Dublin Port to accommodate the largest cruise ships in the world, Royal Caribbean International (RCI) 'Oasis' class of a whopping 225,000 plus gross tonnes. These behemoths of the seas can carry almost 5,000 passengers and are 362m length overall (LOA).

At the same time Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company proposed €18m single cruise-berth would permit considerably larger cruiseships than present to berth within the harbour and avoid having to currently tender passengers ashore. Both proposed projects would require a dredging programme to allow such deeper-draft cruiseships to berth in port.

The Dun Laoghaire cruise-berth is designed for cruiseships such as RCI's 'Freedom' class of some 154,000 tonnes and at 340 (LOA), though DHPC cite that cruiseships slightly longer could also be accommodated.

Published in Dun Laoghaire Harbour News
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Dublin Bay

Dublin Bay on the east coast of Ireland stretches over seven kilometres, from Howth Head on its northern tip to Dalkey Island in the south. It's a place most Dubliners simply take for granted, and one of the capital's least visited places. But there's more going on out there than you'd imagine.

The biggest boating centre is at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the Bay's south shore that is home to over 1,500 pleasure craft, four waterfront yacht clubs and Ireland's largest marina.

The bay is rather shallow with many sandbanks and rocky outcrops, and was notorious in the past for shipwrecks, especially when the wind was from the east. Until modern times, many ships and their passengers were lost along the treacherous coastline from Howth to Dun Laoghaire, less than a kilometre from shore.

The Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea and is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south. North Bull Island is situated in the northwest part of the bay, where one of two major inshore sandbanks lie, and features a 5 km long sandy beach, Dollymount Strand, fronting an internationally recognised wildfowl reserve. Many of the rivers of Dublin reach the Irish Sea at Dublin Bay: the River Liffey, with the River Dodder flow received less than 1 km inland, River Tolka, and various smaller rivers and streams.

Dublin Bay FAQs

There are approximately ten beaches and bathing spots around Dublin Bay: Dollymount Strand; Forty Foot Bathing Place; Half Moon bathing spot; Merrion Strand; Bull Wall; Sandycove Beach; Sandymount Strand; Seapoint; Shelley Banks; Sutton, Burrow Beach

There are slipways on the north side of Dublin Bay at Clontarf, Sutton and on the southside at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, and in Dalkey at Coliemore and Bulloch Harbours.

Dublin Bay is administered by a number of Government Departments, three local authorities and several statutory agencies. Dublin Port Company is in charge of navigation on the Bay.

Dublin Bay is approximately 70 sq kilometres or 7,000 hectares. The Bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and seven km in length east-west to its peak at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the southside of the Bay has an East and West Pier, each one kilometre long; this is one of the largest human-made harbours in the world. There also piers or walls at the entrance to the River Liffey at Dublin city known as the Great North and South Walls. Other harbours on the Bay include Bulloch Harbour and Coliemore Harbours both at Dalkey.

There are two marinas on Dublin Bay. Ireland's largest marina with over 800 berths is on the southern shore at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The other is at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club on the River Liffey close to Dublin City.

Car and passenger Ferries operate from Dublin Port to the UK, Isle of Man and France. A passenger ferry operates from Dun Laoghaire Harbour to Howth as well as providing tourist voyages around the bay.

Dublin Bay has two Islands. Bull Island at Clontarf and Dalkey Island on the southern shore of the Bay.

The River Liffey flows through Dublin city and into the Bay. Its tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac.

Dollymount, Burrow and Seapoint beaches

Approximately 1,500 boats from small dinghies to motorboats to ocean-going yachts. The vast majority, over 1,000, are moored at Dun Laoghaire Harbour which is Ireland's boating capital.

In 1981, UNESCO recognised the importance of Dublin Bay by designating North Bull Island as a Biosphere because of its rare and internationally important habitats and species of wildlife. To support sustainable development, UNESCO’s concept of a Biosphere has evolved to include not just areas of ecological value but also the areas around them and the communities that live and work within these areas. There have since been additional international and national designations, covering much of Dublin Bay, to ensure the protection of its water quality and biodiversity. To fulfil these broader management aims for the ecosystem, the Biosphere was expanded in 2015. The Biosphere now covers Dublin Bay, reflecting its significant environmental, economic, cultural and tourism importance, and extends to over 300km² to include the bay, the shore and nearby residential areas.

On the Southside at Dun Laoghaire, there is the National Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as Dublin Bay Sailing Club. In the city centre, there is Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club. On the Northside of Dublin, there is Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club and Sutton Dinghy Club. While not on Dublin Bay, Howth Yacht Club is the major north Dublin Sailing centre.

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