Belfast Port's biggest cruise season took place in 2017. 2018 is set to become even busier as cruise ships visit in several months time.
According to Belfast Harbour Commissioners, a total of 94 cruise ships had docked with more than 156,000 passengers visiting the port city and beyond.
The longest and largest cruise visitor Regal Princess docked alongside Stormont Wharf Extension. The extension of the wharf which was completed in recent years is only 20 m longer than the 330-m vessel which demonstrates such large-sized ships.
Onboard were 3,600 cruise passengers who sailed overnight from Greenock as part of a 26-day Copenhagen to New York voyage. The cruise visited ports in Russia, Norway, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
Last season also included the Princess Cruises liner Caribbean Princess and the rival Celebrity Eclipse. Besides these big names, other operators included Silversea, Fred Olsen, Majestic, and relative newcomer Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV UK).
As we previously wrote, Port of Belfast could see cruise passengers hit 230,000 in just a couple of years. More than 110 liners are expected to dock in the province in 2018.