Visits by mighty ocean liners like the Mauretania and the Olympic may now be just a sepia-tinted memory for Cobh but today calls by their more modest modern cruise liner cousins are proving a major boon to the Cork Harbour town.
Not that it's just Cobh itself that is benefiting - a recent report commissioned by the Port of Cork shows that the cruise liner business will this year boost the economy of Cork, Kerry and Waterford by £7.7 million.
The report, carried out by Richard Moloney and Trevor Donnellan, of the input-output team at the department of economics at UCC also found that cruise liner traffic will create the equivalent of 103 full-time jobs in the area.
According to Port of Cork marketing manager Sean Geary, the success of the cruise liner business - which has seen passenger numbers rise from 4,475 in 1990 to a projected 26,000 plus this season - stems from a strategic marketing plan for Cork Harbour.
"The cruise liner business really took off in the US in the 1980s and in Europe in the late 1980s. In 1990, together with the Cobh and Harbour Chamber of Commerce, we set up Ireland's first cruise marketing co-op, CorkCruise," explains Mr Geary.
"CorkCruise also includes shipping agents, ground handling agents and coach operators as well as individual attractions within the region such as Cobh Heritage Centre, Blarney Woollen Mills, Jameson Heritage Centre and Fota Island Golf Club."
Adopting an aggressive international marketing strategy, CorkCruise has spectacularly built up the cruise business to the point where this summer some 30 of the world's top cruise liners will moor at Cobh, Ringaskiddy or the city jetties.
Already the 963-ft, 70,000tonne QEII has come alongside at Ringaskiddy, while last weekend, the frequently acclaimed No 1 cruise ship in the world, the somewhat smaller but even more luxurious Royal Viking Sun docked at the deepwater quay in Cobh.
"Although we haven't as many ships calling as Dublin - capital cities are very popular - we probably have higher visitor numbers because we can accommodate bigger ships - the QEII had to moor off Dun Laoghaire but she could dock at Ringaskiddy.
"Ports of call aren't just ports of calls - they must also offer access to attractions. So our visitors can go by coach to see the Lakes of Killarney or down to see Waterford Glass or they can visit somewhere more local like Kinsale or Blarney," he says.
