18-07-2025
Luxury cruise ship's owners reveal expansion of their Greenock programme
A FORMER CalMac ferry that's become a familiar sight in Greenock since being converted to a luxury cruise ship more than 35 years ago is set to offer more sailings on the Clyde next year.
The Hebridean Princess's 2026 cruise programme was published on Friday – and includes a series of 'Greenock to Greenock' cruises to start her programme for the year.
The ship – built in 1964 for David MacBrayne as the car ferry MV Columba – is offering only one cruise from Greenock this year, an end-of-season tour of the Clyde and its sea lochs in early November.
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But the vessel's 2026 sailing schedule starts with four back-to-back Clyde cruises in March next year, before she sails to Oban, her home port for her main spring and summer season.
Prices for two travellers for a four-night Clyde cruise on the luxury vessel – which was chartered by the Queen for family holidays in 2006 and 2010 – start at £2,160.
The vessel has been operated by Hebridean Island Cruises, based in Skipton, North Yorkshire, since 1989, and is usually laid up each winter in the James Watt Dock.
The Hebridean Princess's programme of Greenock cruises will be expanded in 2026. (Image: George Munro) The ship was caught up in tragedy in February 2023 when the Clyde Marine Services tug Biter sank off the East India Harbour as it was assisting the Hebridean Princess towards the James Watt Dock.
Both the tug's crew, 65-year-old [[Greenock]] man George Taft and Ian Catterson, 73, from Millport, died after the twin screw conventional tug girted and overturned.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch's report into the tragedy was published in November last year, though none of its findings laid blame directly at the door of the Hebridean Princess's crew or the ship's owners.
