The Port of Waterford welcomes its first cruise liner in over 2 years today.
The Maud makes not only her maiden voyage to Port of Waterford today but due to Covid travel disruption, she is also the first cruise vessel in over two years to be welcomed into the Port.
The Maud expedition cruise vessel from the Norweigan cruise line company Hurtigruten will travel from The Isle of Man with some 528 passengers on board and 300 crew members.
It's expected that cruise passengers will boost the region's economy by over €3.5 million this summer.
The Port of Waterford Company along with Harbour Master Capt Darren Doyle will offer a warm welcome to the vessel and her Captain on her maiden voyage to Waterford with a presentation of a Waterford Crystal Ships decanter.
Commenting on the return of cruise business to the Port Capt. Doyle says it's great to have a cruise liner back to the county:
“We are delighted to again welcome cruise vessels back to the Port of Waterford. This has been a much anticipated day as it has been over two years since we waved goodbye to our last cruise vessel."
"We look forward to welcoming some 27 cruise vessels between now and the end of September with a total of 35,000 passengers and 16,000 crew members which will all deliver a much-needed boost to the regional tourism economy to the tune of €3,500,000 this summer.”
The Maud will make nine more visits to the Port of Waterford this summer and she will berth at Belview Port with some others scheduled to berth at Frank Cassin Wharf and at Dunmore East where the passengers will travel ashore via tender.
The passengers from The Maud will travel ashore and visit Waterford Crystal, The Waterford Treasures Museums at the Viking Triangle, Lismore, The Copper Coast and Kilkenny City.
Waterford will also welcome one of the largest vessels in the business this year as the Celebrity Apex the $900 million vessel will visit in June, July and in August with over 3,000 passengers on each occasion. The 900 million dollar vessel was completed in May 2019 and will make her maiden call to Waterford this summer.
Chief Executive at Port of Waterford Frank Ronan says it's a big day:
“Today is a momentous one, it is the day that we begin to rebuild the robust cruise line business of the Port of Waterford company of pre-pandemic times. The team here have put much work into delivering a schedule of vessels for the region this summer and now that the cruise business is back on the seas again it offers us even further opportunity to build on the business for Waterford and the entire southeast region into the future.”
