Displaying items by tag: Cruise Critic Awards

11th December 2023

Belfast Harbour is Named 'Best UK & Ireland Port of Call' by Cruise Critic's Editors’ Picks Awards

Belfast Harbour has been recognised as the Best UK & British Isles Port of Call at this year’s Cruise Critic UK Editors’ Picks Awards.

Cruise Critic, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, is the world’s leading cruise reviews site and online cruise community and each year it names the winners of its Editors’ Picks Awards, chosen by the site’s international team of cruise experts.

Guided by the Cruise Critic editorial team’s impartial cruise expertise – based on first-hand experiences and industry knowledge – the awards name the best-in-industry while also helping travelers select the best cruise for their specific interests and needs.

At the 15th annual awards Belfast took home the prize for Best Port Call in a year when the city enjoyed a record cruise season, with 159 cruise calls from 57 ships from 32 different cruise lines in 2023. That was an 8% increase on the pre-pandemic record set in 2019.

For the full details of this year’s winners, visit this link.

Published in Cruise Liners

Tagged under

Cork's Cobh Listed in Top Three Destinations In Worldwide Cruise Critic Traveller Awards

Celebrity Eclipse off Cobh was ranked second place at the inaugural Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Destination Awards

#CobhAward – TripAdvisor which owns Cruise Critic, the world's largest cruise review site and online cruise community, has announced Cobh as among the winners of the inaugural Cruise Critic Cruisers’ Choice Destination Awards.

In the British Isles and Western Europe awards, Cork’s Cobh was ranked second place, Glasgow’s Greenock ranked third, leaving Amsterdam to top the list in first place, with calls to the Dutch destination from the likes of Regent Seven Seas and Azamara Club Cruises.

The awards name the best cruise destinations of the year – across 15 regions around the world – based entirely on reviews posted to the Cruise Critic website. All rankings are based on member review ratings for ports from sailings taken August 1, 2015 to July 31, 2016.

“A cruise isn’t just about the ship – picking the right itinerary is imperative,” explains Adam Coulter, UK editor, Cruise Critic. “Cruises enable travellers to explore a number of amazing destinations, offering culture, beauty and history. With such a variety of unique destinations to choose from, these awards aim to highlight, and celebrate, those rated highly by travellers to offer inspiration and guidance to cruise planners.”

Popular ports include the Caribbean’s St. Maarten, which receives visits from lines including P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises, and Alaska’s Glacier Bay which is visited by a number of cruise lines including Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America Line.

The British love the Baltics - UK travellers rated Baltic destinations in their top three, with Stockholm first, followed by Tallinn and Copenhagen.

Published in Port of Cork

Tagged under

About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour