This year, Irish ports will welcome around 300 cruise ships, bringing with them tourists from across the globe and a boost to the regional economies.
Ireland's busiest port for cruises is the Port of Cork in Cobh, which is set to welcome 93 cruise ships between April and November carrying around 160,000 passengers.
Bantry Bay is set to welcome a further 14 ships and last year brought five times the town's population to the area through cruising alone.
Cork's history with cruise ships is a long one with famous names like Titanic and sister ships the Lusitania and Mauritania visiting Cobh in the early 1900s. The latter two were built by the Cunard line which still visits the port, with The Queen Anne arriving for the first time last year.
The Port of Cork estimates the cruise business will be worth €20 million to the local economy in 2025.
"Cork Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world, which means it has naturally deep water providing little to no restrictions on visiting cruise liners," said Conor Mowlds, Chief Commercial Officer, Port of Cork Company.
Cruise ship in Cork Harbour, Photo credit: Keith Ryan
According to Mr Mowlds, the community in Cork really sees the value of cruise tourism.
"There's a genuine appreciation for the benefits it brings to the local economy, especially during the summer period," he said.
"When cruise vessels arrive into both Cobh and Bantry, the atmosphere is electric and there is a significant effort from locals and the business community to welcome passengers to the town and city, with live music and markets providing each visitor with the chance to immerse themselves in the local food, drink, music, and culture," he added.
Mr Mowlds, who is also Chair of representative group Cruise Ireland, is hoping the port can expand beyond the roughly 100 ships that will visit Cork and Bantry this year.
"We are working closely with Cruise Britain to grow the cruise tourism industry across both islands," he explained.
"We recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cruise Britain, which aims to promote Ireland and the British Isles as a 'cruising region' allowing both organisations to tap into new markets and expand our reach," he added.
While Cork may be the busiest destination for cruisers, Waterford is the oldest. The Vikings sailed up the river Suir and founded Ireland's oldest city 1,111 years ago.
Some cruise ships still follow that track up the river to dock at Belview Port, around 7km from the city. Others anchor in the deep water off Dunmore East.
But growth is being limited by a cap on the number of ships that can visit Dunmore and no direct docking in Waterford city.
Within the city of Waterford, a significant development is taking place along the North Quays.
"When that investment is over, what we would like to do is open one of the berths in the city and rather than having all the ships call to the industrial port that is Belview, that they would be able to arrive at the city and use the new proposed sustainable bridge to walk directly from the berth to the city centre.
"There is a lot of openness to it from the City Council, the Chamber and the developer, so I expect it is going to happen," Mr Sinnott said.
While being able to walk off a cruise ship directly into a city centre location is rare, tender ports like at Dunmore can discourage some passengers from leaving the ship and spending money, particularly if bad weather is a factor.
A number of stops were cancelled last year due to the weather, but 25 ships successfully docked in Waterford.
Ireland's second largest port for cruise visits is also a tender port.
Dún Laoghaire has taken off as a cruising destination since Brexit, according to Tim Ryan, Operations Manager of Dún Laoghaire Harbour.
"When Brexit came in, Dublin Port ran out of capacity because they had to put in extra space for things like storage and custom checks.
"That's basically what grew the cruise business for Dún Laoghaire, because Dublin Port could no longer accommodate it," he explained.
Dún Laoghaire invested in the infrastructure and as soon as Covid restrictions lifted, the port began welcoming cruise ships in greater numbers.
Research carried out by the Marine Institute, Foras na Mara, shows the dramatic fall in cruise activity at Dublin Port post 2019, and the rise at Dún Laoghaire from 2022.
