Friday, June 22, 2018 - 08:24 by ce-press
The first cruiseship to ever homeport Dublin was met by dancers and musicians on April 29 prior to her mini-season from the Irish port. Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Eclipse brings 2,850 passengers into the city on each of its five sailings starting from Dublin this year, resulting in 14,000 visitors. The inaugural 10-night Ireland Iceland sailing departed on the following day.
Jo Rzymowska, vp and managing director Celebrity Cruises, Ireland, UK and Asia, commented: “Thank you to the city of Dublin for making Celebrity Eclipse feel so at home. We’re blown away by the welcome. This is the first time in three years that we’ve added a new European homeport to our itineraries and Dublin has exceeded our expectations. Testament to the strong demand from our guests to sail from Dublin, we are excited to return with another ship [Celebrity Reflection] and another mini season in 2019.”
The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Micheal MacDonncha, added: “This is an exciting opportunity for the city following years of investment, and a great milestone in the success of our expanding cruise port.”
Expected to bring a business-boom to the city, each turnaround of the ship in Dublin will generate over an estimated €1m in knock-on economic benefits. This year’s season also features 17 partial turnarounds. In total about €10m will come from these 22 calls which is a boost to the city’s tourist earning as passengers seek out hotel accommodation, dining, retail and visitor experiences. Combined with port of call passengers, the overall economic contribution of Dublin Port’s 2018 cruise season to the local economy will surpass €50m.
Dublin Port Company’s multi-million-euro investment programme to future-proof the port has already delivered the first of new berths to accommodate customer investments in new vessels and routes. Based on Dublin Port’s masterplan, the company is investing €132m this year alone to ensure the timely delivery of new infrastructure and additional capacity, while capital investment of €1bn is planned over the next decade.
Pat Ward, head of cruise tourism Dublin Port Company, commented: “2017 was a record-breaking year for Dublin Port with 127 ships making a stop in the capital and over 210,000 cruise visitors using the port. In 2018 we are on target to exceed that further, with the homeporting of Celebrity Eclipse in the city making a significant difference to our growth plans.”
Among the 151 cruise calls confirmed for 2018, there are nine maiden calls. This year 23 cruise calls will feature ships longer than 300m, including the 330m-long Regal Princess on September 13.
