18-06-2025
Regal visitor gets right royal welcome as Belfast greets its 1,500th cruise ship
Representatives of Belfast Harbour exchanged gifts with the crew of the 330m long ship, and a cake was cut onboard the Princess, with traditional Irish musicians and dancers entertaining guests.
The Princess has become part of Belfast's rotation of cruise ships, stopping here as part of its fortnight-long tour of Ireland and Britain.
Cruises on the Princess start at standard prices over £1,500, and for that passengers get a private cabin, some with balconies, access to numerous restaurants, a three-floor 'piazza' of shops and eateries bedecked in marble and dark wood panelling, a casino and open-air pools.
It is an enormous ship, standing more than 60m tall, with the ability to carry over 3,500 guests and 1,300 crew.
Those crew come from all over the world; one staff member who spoke to the Belfast Telegraph was from Zimbabwe, and works on the Princess for months at a time in between visits back home.
She said she loves her job, as the role lets her out of the house after being in lockdown during the pandemic in 2020 and lets her travel internationally.
The ship has been captained by Aldo Traverso, who has deep connections to the it, for the last eight years.
'I'm particularly proud to be on board Regal Princess, because I was part of the building team back in 2014,' he said.
'This vessel has a special place in my heart.'
Navigating the ship is a 24-hour job, with Captain Traverso and his crew able to pilot it from the front of the bridge, and from the sides, where they can get a view down the length of the enormous vessel. 'For me, but also for many of the crew, it's actually considered home, because we love it so much, looking after our guests.'
Most of the passengers on board come from North America, but on Wednesday morning many of them were disembarking and heading for taxis and buses that would ferry them all over Northern Ireland.
Mary Jo McCanny, director of visitor experience at Visit Belfast, said that passengers make the most out of their 12-or-so hours in Northern Ireland, with some travelling as far away as Fermanagh and Derry.
Mrs McCanny believes a cruise fits in 'really well' to Belfast's tourism offering, despite passengers spending less money on hospitality and restaurants.
'The spend is not on main meals, but is on cafes and bars, retail — they love our local gifts — tours, attractions; that's where the real money goes into from the cruise visitors.' Gary Hall, the commercial director of Belfast Harbour, estimates that cruises bring between £20-25m into Belfast's economy every year, with each passenger spending around £75 on average.
Some of this income has been reinvested into welcoming more passengers. The harbour has a dedicated cruise terminal, which has information desks, and a gift shop.
Music is played to give cruise guests a flavour of the city, and an acoustic duo were performing there yesterday morning.
It's a far cry from when cruise ships first arrived in 1996, when they were 'taking a punt' on Belfast, in Mr Hall's words.
The Harbour has expensive and extensive plans to build a new, dedicated, cruise dock and 'work has already started to develop a new quay,' said Mr Hall.
'We're investing the most the port has ever seen — £90m to develop a new deep water quay and associated infrastructure and terminal, to facilitate some of the world's largest cruise ships.
'We're really looking forward to that facility opening for the 2028 season.'
