2019 is set to be an exciting year in the Irish cruise calendar as Celebrity Cruises confirms that Dublin Port will become a regular fixture. With five turnarounds in the port, Celebrity Refection will call Dublin home from May to June 2019.

In 2018 Celebrity Cruises becomes the first major cruise line to homeport a ship in the city when Celebrity Eclipse arrives in Dublin in April 2018, offering a mini season of five sailings. Due to the success of this inaugural season, Celebrity Cruises is continuing to feature Dublin as one of its prestigious homeports in 2019 and bringing a newer ship to Ireland. In 2019 over 15,000 holidaymakers will start their cruise holiday in Dublin with CelebrityCruises.

Celebrity Cruises will base the 3,030-guest Celebrity Reflection in Dublin in early summer 2019 offering a series of eight, 10, 11 and 12 night sailings. Cruises will sail to Iceland, destinations throughout Ireland, in the Norwegian Fjords and around the British Isles.

Celebrity Reflection launched in 2012 and is currently the newest ship in the Celebrity Cruises fleet. Featuring a real grass lawn on the top deck with private cabanas and the luxurious Reflection Suite – a one-of-a-kind two bedroomed suite with a shower cantilevered out above the ocean, and private butler service – Celebrity Reflection is one of the most stylish ships at sea.

The exciting expansion of Celebrity Cruises’ Ireland programme follows strong guest demand for cruises from Dublin, and the support of the Irish travel industry including travel agents and Dublin Port.

Lorraine Quinn, head of sales, Ireland, Celebrity Cruises, explains: “Sailings starting in Ireland from Dublin Port have been popular with our guests from all over the world. We are really pleased with the performance of the 2018 season for Celebrity Eclipse, and our 2019 deployment of a slightly larger ship in Celebrity Reflection to Dublin sees an increase in the number of people who will sail from this great city. Confirming our ongoing commitment to Ireland is a huge thank you to those who have aided Celebrity Cruises in becoming the first major cruise line to base a cruise ship in Dublin. I can’t wait to be part of the huge welcome that our guests will receive in 2018, 2019 and beyond.”

Pat Ward, Head of Corporate Services, Dublin Port Company adds: “We are delighted that Celebrity Cruises has chosen Dublin as the homeport for the deluxe Celebrity Reflection during 2019 confirming Dublin City as a marquee destination for the world’s largest cruise lines. Celebrity Reflection, measuring 319m long and boasting 14 decks, will be one of the most impressive cruise ships to arrive into Dublin Port. Our location at the heart of the city means that guests can maximise their time in the capital, relaxing in one of our many fine hotels while taking in the city’s sights, shops and attractions with ease. Dublin Port’s cruise business is growing from strength to strength. We are already on track for a record year in 2018, and with work on our Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project having commenced, the future of cruise tourism to the capital is now secure.”

Both Celebrity Eclipse and Celebrity Reflection are part of Celebrity Cruises’ newest Solstice Class of ships, all introduced between 2008 and 2012. In addition to luxury guest accommodations, designer boutiques, extensive bars and restaurants, they also feature a real grass lawn on the top deck. With many awards particularly for its food and wine, Celebrity Cruises boasts the largest and rarest collection of wine at and sea and host of exclusive restaurants on-board all overseen by a Michelin-starred executive chef.

Celebrity Cruises continues to grow and expand its fleet with a new class of ship currently under construction. The first of those ships – Celebrity Edge – will enter service in December 2018.

#CruiseEvening - A cruise evening event was held earlier this week in a south Dublin yacht club to promote a major US brand operator, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The event organised by Cruisescapes was held at the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, where Lorraine Quinn of Celebrity Cruises gave an informative presentation about their cruise line and destinations.

As Afloat previously covered in November, Celebrity Cruises is to become the first major cruise line to confirm Dublin Port as a 'home' port when a ‘Solstice’ class ship will call to the capital during early summer 2018.

For five sailings in 2018 commencing on 30 April, throughout May and until the end of June, Celebrity Cruises will offer from Dublin direct cruises to ports of call throughout northern Europe.

Afloat subsequently identified the ship to be deployed out of Dublin as the 2,800 plus capacity Celebrity Eclipse which will be a 'game-changer' for the capital port. The move is worth an estimated €6 million to Dublin and the surrounding region in knock-on economic benefits.

So far the take up for this new direct option according to Celebrity Cruises is that 20% of customers will be from the Irish market. A further 20% are from the rest of Europe and the balance of 60% from the US.

As for season 2017, Celebrity Eclipse will call to Dublin Port on standard port of call visits as distinct to been ‘home' ported.

Another Solstice class sister, Celebrity Silhouette is also call to the capital on such a basis as well to visiting Belfast, Cork and Waterford.

#HomePort - Celebrity Eclipse has been revealed as the first cruiseship by a major operator to 'home port' in Dublin Port by offering cruises that begin in early summer 2018.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie Celebrity Cruises begins the ships home port on a mini season of five sailings in late April, throughout May and until the end of June 2018. The 'Solstice' class Celebrity Eclipse with a 2,800 passenger capacity will operate cruises departing Dublin Port to destinations throughout northern Europe. Full details on the destinations on offer will be announced later this year.

It is estimated that more than 14,000 people are to start their cruise holiday from Dublin on the Celebrity Eclipse. The deployment of the German built 122,000 gross tonnage vessel to the Irish capital is worth an estimated €6 million and to the surrounding region in knock-on economic benefits.

Celebrity Cruises already features Dublin and other ports throughout Ireland in its European deployment, however this is the most significant increase in its investment into Ireland in the history of the global business.

#CelebrityCaller- Celebrity Cruises, the brand with the iconic 'X' on their funnels are the next operator to visit Dun Laoghaire Harbour when Celebrity Silhouette makes her maiden call offshore of the port next Sunday, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The call of the 122,400 tonnes 'Solstice' class cruiseship with an occupancy capacity of 2,886 passengers has been greeted by the Dun Laoghaire Cruise Stakeholder Group which will be putting into place a welcome programme for the arrival of the operator whose origins are from the Greek Chandris Group. They had ships with a chi, a letter of the Greek alphabet on their funnels, in which the tradition continues as in the case of the 'Silhouette' which has a pair of funnels like those liners of the past.

As the cruise-class name suggests, the 'Solstice' was the first in the industry to utilize solar technology and where some of the solar panels provide shade within the ship's Solarium. The power is also used on the 318m long Celebrity Silhouette for energy production.

Also this month, the intimate 310-guest Wind Surf makes a return visit this year on 29 June. The distinctive five-masted Windstar Cruises vessel that has computer-assisted sails will also be the attention of the DCSG as specially devised events are organised (to season ending September) to ensure passengers take the maximum advantage of what the town has to offer.

Wind Surf which is only 162m long has been the most frequent 'in-harbour' caller since the cruise business was revived in the south Dublin Bay port in 2011.

It was in 2002 that Celebrity Cruise made a previous call off Dun Laoghaire Harbour with the 294m 'Millennium' class Constellation. She made for then an impressive debut as the 90,000 tonnes cruiseship (renamed in 2007) anchored offshore during an inaugural cruise of north-west Europe.

This year's record season of 22 cruise calls for Dun Laoghaire Harbour has fallen to 18 as previously reported on Afloat.ie. Cancellations were made twice by MSC Splendida and likewise of Royal Princess which together have favoured Dublin Port instead as this avoided tendering passengers ashore and allowing more time for guests to spend time in the capital.

It transpires that the 137,000 tonnes MSC Splendida however will finally make a debut at anchor off Dun Laoghaire on 29 August. This will bring a boost to the harbour having firstly cancelled the opening cruise season call last month which led Royal Princess by default to launch the season on 12 May.

Royal Princess which is even larger than MSC Splendida in passenger terms with 3,600 as well as tonnage of 142,000 tonnes made her second docking in Dublin Port on Friday. The Princess Cruises giant berthed within Alexandra Basin. 

The 19-deck cruiseship towered above the industrial skyline of the port estate where the new incinerator complex is currently under construction. 

#CruiseLiners– On the same day of L.E. Samuel Beckett's historic inaugural call to Dublin Port, two large cruiseships also visited the capital with mid-morning berthing taking place within Alexandra Basin, writes Jehan Ashmore.

A large crowd of cruise-goers gathered along the stern decks of the striking signature script liveried Mein Schiff I, to watch Celebrity Infinity edge effortlessly astern and yet cautiously with the assistance of a pair of tugs to an adjoining berth.

The TUI Cruises 78,998 gross registered tonnes Mein Shiff I which translates to 'My Ship' arrived from Belfast while in the opposite direction, Celebrity Cruise larger 90,940grt Celebrity Infinity had called from Le Havre.

Ships of this size and much larger are planned to berth two at a time at a dedicated cruise terminal which is proposed for a site nearby along the North Wall Quay extension and next to the East-Link bridge.

As both cruise callers arrived in late morning as compared to a dawn arrival as is generally the norm, the pair will depart Dublin Port tonight. Celebrity Infinity is scheduled to vacate her berth at 22.15hrs and Mein Schiff I is expected to follow suit at midnight.

#CelebrityCruises – The Celebrity Infinity basked in the glorious sunshine today while at  anchor off Dunmore East and from where tenders of the 91,000 tonnes cruiseship shuttled back and forth, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Tonight the 2001 built cruiseship makes an overnight passage up the Irish Sea with a morning arrival to Dublin Bay around 09.30hrs. The 2,000 passenger vessel is to dock in the capital port along Ocean Pier.

A sister of the Millennium class cruiseship, Celebrity Constellation also made an anchorage call albeit off Dun Laoghaire Harbour more than a decade ago in 2002, a year after her launch.

The then named Constellation was particularly impressive on that occasion however with the recent anchorage call of the giant 151,000 tonnes Queen Mary 2 in Dublin Bay the cruiseship-liner easily becomes the largest caller to date off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

In an unprecedented scheduling of cruiseships to the Port of Cork (Cobh), the inbound Independence of the Seas (154,407 tonnes) the largest cruiseship to call to any Irish port, passed the 122,000 tonnes Celebrity Eclipse which was preparing to depart from the town's cruise terminal.

Some 15 minutes later Celebrity Eclipse pulled away from the berth. During that timeframe the Independence of the Seas had completely turned around in the opposite direction to face Cobh after maneuvering in the swinging basin between Cobh and the Naval Base on Haulbowline Island.

The 4,175-passenger Independence of the Seas is the third of the 'Freedom' class vessels. She has a length of 339m and is a mere 11m shorter in distance to that of the 350m berth at Cobh. The 38m wide cruiseship has a draft of 8.7m and the depth of water at the town's quayside is 9.1m.

The 15-deck vessel was built by Aker Finnyards in Turku, Finland in 2008 for Royal Caribbean International (RCI). Amenities on the Freedom class consist of the an innovative surf park, canitilevered whirlpools, ice-skating rink, full-size boxing ring and a H2O Zone waterpark.

As for the 3,179-passenger Celebrity Eclipse, she is the second of five 'Solstice' class sisters and measures 317m (length) 48m (beam) and draws 8.6m. On the top deck there is the fresh green grass located at Lawn Club. She was built by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and entered service last year for her owners Celebrity Cruises.

Independence of the Seas departed yesterday afternoon on an overnight passage from Southampton where the vessel is based in the summer and for the winter she is based out of Florida. The Celebrity Eclipse departed the UK south coast port from Cobh where the larger cruiseship is also to make overnight port of call.

In total 10,000 passengers and crew will of visited the Cork Harbour region alone over the May Bank holiday. To meet the surge in demand for the shore-based excusions a fleet of buses awaited and additional trains were also laid-on by Irish Rail. The railway station is located next-door to the Cobh Heritage Centre which retraces the town's strong trans-Atlantic liner era.

For the first time two cruiseship giants are scheduled to depart and arrive off Cobh at the same time this May Bank Holiday weekend, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The largest cruiseship to call to an Irish port the Independence of the Sea which weighs 154,407 gross tonnes (some 6,000 tonnes larger than the liner Queen Mary 2) will pass the Cobh-berthed Celebrity Eclipse of 122,000 tonnes around 14.00hrs on Sunday.

Weather permitting the Independence of the Seas will then be maneuvering in the swinging basin between Haulbowline and Cobh, just upriver of the Celebrity Eclipse which will then begin to pull away from the deepwater berth at the Cobh Cruise Terminal.

The 350m long berth has a quayside depth of 9m and is capable of handling some of the largest cruiseships on this island.

Prior to Sunday's sailing spectacle the Celebrity Eclipse is due to dock tomorrow afternoon for the overnight call. Likewise the 4,375 passenger Independence of the Seas will stay at Cobh for an overnight call and then depart's on Monday evening.

“Two such large cruise liners, have never before been in Cork Harbour at the same time, let alone pass each other creating a magnificent sight. An excellent viewing point for anyone planning on visiting Cobh on Sunday 1st May would be the High Road or Whitepoint in Cobh” said Port of Cork Commercial Manager, Captain Micheal McCarthy.

Together the cruiseships will have a combined gross tonnage of nearly 300,000 tonnes and they will bring 10,000 passengers and crew into the Cork region this weekend alone. Celebrity Eclipse is operated by Celebrity Cruises and the Independence of the Seas is run by Royal Caribbean International.

The 3,129 passenger Celebrity Eclipse made her 'maiden' cruise and port of call to Cobh last year following her high profile repatriation voyage from Spain with stranded UK tourists arising from the fallout of the Icelandic volcanic ash-cloud.

On that inaugural ocasion the Celebrity Eclipse which cost €500m became the 500th cruise caller to the Port of Cork where the vessel made an overnight call at Cobh. To see a time-lapse video marking the 500th cruiseship's arrival click here.