THE SIGHT of the graceful MSC Lirica towering over Poolbeg lighthouse under the early morning sky yesterday is set to become more familiar.
The ship carrying almost 2,000 passengers had its maiden stop in Dublin yesterday as leading cruise company MSC has made the port part of its routes.
The 250m ship will dock at Dublin again on August 25th as part of an 11-night route taking in Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland and the Orkneys and Cork harbour.
Its larger sister ship, the MSC Magnifica, is due to visit next May.
Passengers streaming off the gangways yesterday morning did not fit the stereotypical cruise liner tourist.
There was a wide mix of ages and nationalities with families, young couples and older people mainly from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and France.
Twenty tour buses waited to take some 800 of the passengers on organised excursions, mostly around Dublin city sights.
Hundreds of others took one of the shuttle buses to wander the city during their nine-hour visit.
Dublin Port estimates that some 100,000 high-value tourists arrive on the 90 cruise ships each year and are worth an estimated €35- €50 million to the local economy.
Among those planning to boost the local economy were Alexandra Singer from Munich and her family. “We’ve never been in Ireland. We are going to take a hop-on, hop-off bus and maybe do some shopping,” she said
A young woman with a very specific shopping plan was Lauren Watford from Orlando, Florida. “I’ve really liked Celtic music for my entire life and my family is Irish so it’s part of my culture.”
The family had travelled from the US to take the cruise. Her mother Erin Watford wanted to buy her daughter a Claddagh ring as she had purchased one on her last visit 30 years ago.
Another mother-daughter pair were regular cruisers Jacintha and Johanna Den Haag from the Netherlands. They were delighted that the company they regularly travel with had decided to include Dublin and were planning to look around the city centre.
They visited Cork on a previous cruise but it was snowing so they were happy to see the showery Dublin morning.
Sikle Schroder from Germany had not seen the prettiest of Dublin’s scenery as she arrived into the narrow berth and pointed to the shipping containers.
However, Dublin Port Company’s masterplan contains a €110 million cruise facility and terminal beside the East Link as a project it wants to complete in the coming years.
As the ship docked in Dublin yesterday one leisurely couple could be seen relaxing on their balcony in their dressing gowns having breakfast. With swimming pools, a health spa, Turkish baths, a 713-seat theatre and eight bars, naturally not everyone was leaving the ship.
