In glorious weather, the Vasco da Gama from German operator Nicko Cruises arrived off Dún Laoghaire Harbour this morning following last year's attempt to visit but this was cancelled, writes Jehan Ashmore
Afloat has confirmed with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council that this is the maiden call to the harbour by Vasco da Gama, which had booked in previously in 2023 but had been forced to cancel due to poor weather.
Vasco da Gama, carrying up to 948 passengers and a crew of 525 crew, has only since last year operated for Nicko Cruises Schiffsreisen GmbH as their first ocean-going vessel. The company, with its headquarters in Stuttgart, has for more than three decades run river-based cruises and has a current fleet of 23 vessels.
The cruise ship built in 1993 was launched as Statendam originally for Holland America Line (HAL), which became the first ship in a series dubbed the ‘S’ class, which includes Maasdam and Ryndam from the Monfalcone shipyard in Italy. As for the final ship of the quartet, Veendam was also built by Fincantieri but at their Marghera yard.
However, HAL, which became part of the Carnival Corporation, transferred the ship on foot of new tonnage in 2015 to another subsidiary, P&O Australia, to become Pacific Eden until moving on again to its current role in the northern hemisphere.
The 55,451 gross tonnage cruise ship, having sailed on an overnight passage from Cork Harbour, anchored off Dun Laoghaire in a season that continues to be kept busy until the end of next month.
For example, today’s visit follows the recent calls of two Holland America Line cruiseships, the company’s newest ship, Rotterdam, which called on Sunday, and prior to the weekend, the smaller Zuiderdam, which made its presence on Friday. Likewise of Vasca Da Gama, they anchored offshore given their size, with tenders bringing passengers to and from the pontoon facility at the harbour’s St. Michaels Wharf.
Tomorrow is scheduled the call by the French operator, Compagnie Francaise de Croisieres (CMF) whose Renaissance, by coincidence is the aforementioned Maasdam, the second of HAL’s ‘S’ class, made almost a year ago its debut last year.
The ship returned to the east coast port last month, however, in contrast to today's fine-weather call by Vasco da Gama, the Renaissance arrived in Dublin Bay but was forced to leave earlier than planned, with the anchorage call cancelled due to high winds.