If you like travelling in style, then you will want to take a look inside this gigantic luxury cruise liner that pulled into Dublin Port yesterday.
The MCS Splendida is a stunning 333m cruise liner that offers the most relaxing and serene environment anybody could wish for.
It features a staggering 18 decks with facilities for passengers to suit their every need. Those wanting to escape from the everyday stresses of life can take advantage of the onboard spa which includes water treatments, saunas, a Turkish bath, solarium, whirlpool baths plus much more.
If action is more your thing then there are on-board gyms, squash courts, swimming pools, jogging track, casino, 4D cinema and an F1 simulator for you to get stuck into.
The boat is so huge, the eleventh largest cruise liner in the world, that special arrangements needed to be made by the staff at Dublin Port to enable it to dock there. Ordinarily the port can only host boats less than 300m in length.
The MCS Splendida had to reverse into port, as it is too large to turn around in the River Liffey, which is the more common way for ships to dock.
Harbour Master Captain David Dignam explained the arrival to the Irish Mirror: “Our first challenge was to see how we could safely bring a ship into and out of the port, especially when the river is too narrow to allow it to turn within the port.
“The result of our many simulation exercises has convinced me and the cruise lines that, weather permitting, we can safely enter the port bow first and then manoeuvre stern first out [or vice versa].
“Due credit must be given to the skills of our pilots and the masters of our tugs, combined with the expertise of the cruise ships’ masters and their ships’ enormous manoeuvring capabilities.”
There are plans to develop the port so that it can accommodate such large vessels more easily in the future.
However, the fact that MCS Splendida opted to stop off in Dublin is a sign of the growing demand from tourists to visit the Ireland while on their holidays. A 300m Disney cruise liner is one of several more ships scheduled to dock at Dublin Port later in the year.
The MCS Splendida is the second of the ‘Fantasia Class’ of cruise ships from luxury travel company MCS. They offer cruises in Europe, South America, the Caribbean plus several other destinations. To find out more about MCS cruises then visit their website at www.msccruises.com