A small yet notably historic cruise ship, the Hebridean Princess, which has been chartered twice by the late UK monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is currently on a visit to Dun Laoghaire Harbour, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The luxury ship of just 2,212 gross tonnes was used to celebrate her 80th birthday and this was followed by a separate 14 night cruise also in Scottish waters.
Hebridean Princess arrived to Dun Laoghaire from Waterford, having toured along the south coast. It is operated by Hebridean Island Cruises which earlier this year celebrated the 60th anniversary of the launch of their flagship, which in 1989 had a major rebuild conversion having originally served as a humble car ferry.
In that role it served for David MacBrayne (successor CalMac) as the MV Columba launched on the 12th March, 1964, at the Hall Russell shipyard in Aberdeen, with the ferry in service for almost a quarter century. Among its career highlights was establishing the Isle of Mull car ferry service.
To mark the 60th event, a formal lunch was held on board in Aberdeen, attended by Princess Anne, where a special plaque was unveiled. With such strong royal connections, the Hebridean Princess, which has established itself as the epitome of luxury, is not surprisingly the only cruise ship to have received a Royal Warrant.
At this stage of its career, 35 years have been as a cruise ship, which is longer than those of its car ferry service. It is also a testament to the shipbuilder's design that the small-ship remains in the domestic waters in which it was intended to operate.
In that timeframe, the cruise ship has visited the breath-taking Scottish Highlands and Islands, England, Wales, and Ireland as highlighted further below. In addition to calling to the Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isles of Scilly, and across the English Channel to France and neighbouring Belgium.
Hebridean Princess has a crew of 38 for just 48 guests, and the operator claims the exclusive ship is the smallest luxury cruise ship afloat, sailing mainly from its home port of Oban in west Scotland. The ship is described as offering an unrivaled level of comfort with the refined service of a floating country house. There are 28 spacious, individually designed, and elegantly decorated cabins and polished teak decks.
With a length just under 72m, the small ship effortlessly can access even the most remote islands, lochs, and bays.
During Hebridean Princess season to Ireland this has seen cruises based along the north, east and south coasts. On the opening cruise last month, this involved calls among them to Lough Foyle, Rathlin Island, Belfast and Carlingford Lough.
Afloat noted this cruise was advertised to depart Oban on 23 July, with Dun Laoghaire as the final port, but this did not take place. Instead the cruise ship was running in and out of Dublin Port, with cruises taking place with the ship tracked to locations among them Dungarvan Bay and Cobh, Cork Harbour.
This week it departed Waterford on Tuesday and arrived to Dun Laoghaire the next day where it has remained in port at the Carlisle Pier.
Further coverage of Hebridean Princess’s next cruise and its itinerary of destinations will be revealed. Some of these locations are rarely or less often visited and cannot be reached by the newbuild behemoths.
