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Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone. Special greetings and thanks to Kieran and the mods for all their hard work who make this such a great place to visit.

The Port of Cork is hoping to use the berth at Marino Point from mid 2020 as a terminal for smaller cruise ships. Brittany Ferries has recently used the berth as a lay by for its ships Connemara and Kerry.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/all-hands-on-deck-as-cork-set-to-host-107-cruise-liners-964267.html

We were in Italy for a short holiday last week and spent a few days in Naples. Great spot for a bit of ship spotting. Uploaded almost 200 pics to https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGGfHBX

Here's a few

With Pont Aven off service Amorique made the Roscoff to Cork run today. Heres a few pics. More here https://flic.kr/s/aHsk8PJNE2

Pont Aven off service due to an engine room fire. Amorique covering Cork/Roscoff this weekend. Due in Ringaskiddy at 8pm Saturday night.
https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2019-04-29/fire-breaks-out-onboard-brittany-ferries-ship-sailing-from-plymouth-to-santander/ 

Pont Aven off service due to an engine room fire. Amorique covering Cork/Roscoff this weekend. Due in Ringaskiddy at 8pm Saturday night.
https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2019-04-29/fire-breaks-out-onboard-brittany-ferries-ship-sailing-from-plymouth-to-santander/ 

Traveled on WB Yeats last week. I've added 50+ shots to https://flic.kr/s/aHskTUKxJs 

Here's a few

Astoria a ship with an interesting history opened the 2019 cruise ship season in Cobh this morning. The ship launched as Stockholm in the late 40's was the other vessel involved in the sinking of the Andrea Doria in July 1956. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Astoria

Few pics her and more added to 2019 album https://flic.kr/s/aHsmC8rcTe











Full list of all scheduled visits for 2019 https://www.portofcork.ie/index.cfm/page/cruiseschedule2010

Happy Christmas and New Year to all posters here. Special greetings and thanks to Kieran and the mods for all their hard work.

Been mentioned a few times before but looks more likely to happen this time round
https://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Port-of-Cork-planning-second-Cobh-cruise-terminal-c7220dc2-9172-4c8b-bf66-6014ac4d07aa-ds

Been mentioned a few times before but looks more likely this time round
https://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Port-of-Cork-planning-second-Cobh-cruise-terminal-c7220dc2-9172-4c8b-bf66-6014ac4d07aa-ds

Been mentioned a few times before but looks more likely this time round
https://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Port-of-Cork-planning-second-Cobh-cruise-terminal-c7220dc2-9172-4c8b-bf66-6014ac4d07aa-ds

New 4 part series starts on RTE tomorrow night Sunday 30th at 6.30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3NUCHwV6HU

Was in Brittany Ferries Cork office earlier and was told that the Cork to Santandar service will resume next April.  Online booking will open tomorrow. 
Also the Monday night sailing to Roscoff will resume in April.

Spent a few days in Roscoff last week. Here's a few pics from last Friday of Pont Aven leaving the berth to allow Amorique dock after arriving from Plymouth.

According to the IF website the last Rosslare to Cherbourg sailing is the Oscar Wilde on Friday 28th September. There are no sailings from Rosslare to France for the rest of the year.
Couple of questions
1. Is the Rosslare- France service going to continue as a summer only service?
2. Whats going to happen to the Oscar Wilde?

Few pics of Celebrity Eclipse off Dunmore East yesterday

[Cruise liner bonanza: 200,000 people expected in Cork this year]

There are over 90 calls this year with Astoria being the first on 21st March with Marco Polo ending the season on 20th December.

Full list of calls here http://www.portofcork.ie/index.cfm/page/cruiseschedule2010

Also a piece from last Saturday's Evening Echo

Cruise liner bonanza: 200,000 people expected in Cork this year
Kevin O'Neill

CORK is braced for a cruise bonanza in 2018, with some 200,000 people due to arrive on liners to Cobh, Ringaskiddy and the city centre this year. The long-term outlook is even more promising, with officials at the Port of Cork confirming that early bookings for 2019 have already exceeded last year's total arrivals. The first cruise liner is due to arrive in Cobh in mid-March, with 95 liners set to dock before the season ends on December 20.

Captain Michael McCarthy, commercial manager at the Port of Cork, said that the outlook for the year is 'very promising.'
"Last year, we had 67 bookings. This year, it is closer to 100. We are up about 30-35%," he said. "The long-term outlook is good, too. 2019 is already looking even better. We are only part of the way through booking in liners and we have already exceeded the total for last year."

Mr McCarthy expects 150,000 passengers and an additional 50,000 crew to arrive at Cobh, Ringaskiddy and Custom House Quay over the coming year. This is an increase from 2017 when 100,000 passengers and 43,000 crew visited the region.

The increase in traffic is largely driven by an increase in bigger vessels visiting, Mr McCarthy added. This includes the Brilliance of the Seas, which will bring 2,500 passengers and more than 850 crew on each of her four scheduled visits, and the Independence of the Seas, which can carry 4,000 passengers and 1,300 crew. It is due in Cobh twice in May.

The Celebrity Eclipse, due in April, and the Celebrity Silhouette, which will dock in August, will both bring more than 4,000 passengers and crew, while the Queen Victoria, due in May, will carry close to 3,000 people in total. Later in the season, the Disney Magic cruise liner will bring 2,700 passengers and 1,000 crew on two visits in September. "We have been chasing that one for quite a few years," Mr McCarthy said. "For us to get the brand - to have Mickey Mouse coming into the harbour - it is a great booking."

Longer term, Mr McCarthy expects demand to continue to grow. "Cork and, indeed, all of the north-west of Europe remains a stable and attractive destination for cruise passengers so we anticipate that these figures will continue to increase," he said.
"There is great optimism in the sector. There are 94 new ships on order between now and 2025." Cork is well positioned to take advantage of the new additions in the coming years, with the Port's plans for a second terminal in Cobh expected to be finished by 2021, Mr McCarthy confirmed.


http://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Cruise-liner-bonanza-200000-people-expected-in-Cork-this-year-a2655481-3703-4ffd-958f-0f37859f6031-ds

http://afloat.ie/port-news/port-and-shipping-news/item/35417-rosslare-europort-welcomes-new-weekly-neptune-lines-service-from-this-saturday

First visitor of the season Saga Pearl II (ex Arkona/Astor) arrives in Cobh on Monday next 20th March at 10.30am.  Artania will be the final visitor on November 2nd. There are 14 calls by Carribean Princess!

Full list here http://www.portofcork.ie/index.cfm/page/cruiseschedule2010