AUGUST 20 UPDATE: Now on another round-Britain cruise with an identical itinerary, Lirica has moved Friday’s (August 24) planned call at Oban to the port of Greenock and the more sheltered waters of the Clyde. The weather forecast for Friday suggested that tendering ashore at Oban would be uncomfortable to say the least, if not impossible.
High winds in south-west Ireland yesterday put paid to a cruise ship’s planned visit to Cobh – the last port of call made by Titanic on her ill-fated maiden voyage.
The town, near Cork, has a museum commemorating the ill-fated liner’s visit and the sinking of RMS Lusitania, torpedoed by a German U-boat with the loss of almost 1,200 lives in 1915.
But 2,000 passengers on a round-Britain cruise aboard MSC Lirica were unable to go ashore as the captain decided stormy seas would make berthing impossible. The ship spent an extra day at sea en route to Amsterdam, where people scheduled to join it in Cobh will be flown in time for tomorrow’s arrival.
Lirica has visited Edinburgh, Invergordon, Stornoway, Kirkwall and Oban during its current voyage, and on Tuesday was in Dublin. The non-arrival in Cobh deprived passengers of the opportunity to kiss the Blarney Stone or visit the nearby whiskey distillery.
Yesterday’s weather also closed a wildlife park near Cobh and led to the cancellation of an open-topped bus tour of Dublin for Ireland’s homecoming Olympic athletes.
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