I am accustomed watching the arrival route of the cruise ships into the harbour on a daily basis, but today was different.
I noticed that a ship was approaching the harbour from the opposite direction. What on earth was going on?
I thought perhaps that there was some bad weather or high squalls on the sea, but the water was its usual calm self.
Then I saw the large "C" on the funnel, and I immediately thought of the Costa Concordia which sank in Italy earlier this year when the captain made an unauthorised "sail by."
Surely, this could not be........
Sailing pass the entrance of the harbour in order to turn and enter the harbour
Turning turning turning
The Costa Luminosa
On its way into the harbour
Docked safely
I hurriedly took a few photos, and was about to head into the garden,
when lo and behold just as soon as the first ship was docked safely,
there was another cruise liner arriving from the opposite direction like
the first one.
Here comes the other ship
Turning turning turning
The MSC Lirica
Headed into the harbour
Both ships safely docked in the harbour
Now I was really curious.
I picked the phone up and placed a call to the Port and found myself talking to a very nice gentleman, a Berthing Master who was full of helpful information.
Guess what? Both cruise liners had made the TransAtlantic crossing from the Mediterranean, and their arrival route was the only one that could be taken under the circumstances.....I totally understood.
Barbados is the most easterly island in the island chain, so both ships would have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and then sailed around the south of the island, and enter the harbour from that direction.
The Costa Luminosa is marketed as "Italian Style Cruising", and it was the first time that it was positioned in the Caribbean on a 7 day cruise.
It left Savona, Italy on December 5th on a 16 night cruise stopping off at Malaga Spain, Casablanca Morocco, Funchal Portugal, Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands, then on to Bridgetown Barbados, St.George's Grenada, Castries St.Lucia, Martinique, and finally BasseTerre Guadeloupe.
The MSC Lirica left Barcelona on December 2nd on a 13 night cruise which included stops in Portugal, Barbados, St.Lucia, St.Kitts, Grenada and Martinique.
Here is a link to more info on the Costa Luminosa
Here is a link to more info on the MSC Lirica.
To access the tracking and live webcams for both ships please click here. Just click on the Exclusive Ship Tracker link and select the name of the ship. The webcam updates every 30 seconds.
Today while both ships were in port, I had a good view of the surroundings in the harbour. During the night viewing there isn't much to see. Would be nice to check out the live cam when the ship is actually docking in the harbour.
Have you ever used the Marine Traffic website? I use it to track my son and friends and it's also good for seeing what is passing the house on Lewis!
ReplyDeleteYes, GB, I use Marine Traffic as well as a few others like seascanner and cruisemapper.
ReplyDeleteI've just had an enjoyable half hour looking round your blog. How exciting to see such large boats, I would be down there every day for a closer look if I lived there. Not that I want to sail on any of them, I just think anything to do with travel is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteNice to see so many cared for dogs, and some interesting breeds as well. I'll pop in again for another look.
Glad you enjoyed your look around my blog Ilona.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day, "your boat" The Ilona will come to visit our shores.
The next time I attend the dog show I will stay for the entire day, so that I can include the bigger breed dogs, which are showcased in the afternoon.