Irish cruise passengers on the up

Figures also showed the same rise in passenger numbers from 2016 to 2017, indicating that the Irish cruise market will continue to experience similar growth in 2019 and onwards.

Younger passengers

The average age remained consistent at 48 years, slightly below the average age for Europe cruise passengers.

Harmer continued: ‘Figures showed that Irish passengers aged between zero and 39 years were the highest ever recorded last year. With cruise lines continuing to expand their offerings both onboard and ashore, ensuring that there is something to suit every age and taste, it’s not hard to see why cruise holidays have this ever-growing appeal to families and millennials.”

Med and Caribbean popular

The most popular destination for Irish holidaymakers is the Western and Central Mediterranean, closely followed by the Caribbean. Together, these destinations take up 62% of all cruises taken.

Both the Caribbean and Central/Western Mediterranean attract the youngest age demographic, at 43 years and 47 years respectively, likely due to being popular destinations for families.

Homeporting ships

Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises have both homeported ships in Dublin this year.

What may hit the numbers in future is Port of Dublin's annoucement that it will limit cruise calls in 2021 to two large ships per week for the summer season, one large ship per week in the winter and zero turnarounds.

According to some news reports, this will cut cruise calls in half from the current level.