ONE of the most luxurious British cruise ships visited the Isle of Man in August.
The Ocean Countess called in at Douglas as part of UK cruise.
Many of the passengers used the ship's tenders to get onto Manx soil and tour the Island during the Isle of Man visit, with many choosing to visit St John's and then on to Peel for the historical interest and also because it was also Peel Carnival Day.
The visits by cruise ships are seen as a welcome boost for the Island's tourism industry as they bring people to the Isle of Man to spend money when they visit such places as heritage sites and restaurants but they don't put any pressure on the shortage of hotel bedrooms.
After a £3 million refurbishment in Winter 2009, the Ocean Countess has seven passenger decks, a generous amount of deck space, is stabilised and air conditioned throughout and accommodates about 800 passengers.
Ocean Countess passengers tend to be 45 plus and British. When all cabins have double occupancy, the ship provides a space ratio of 22 tons per passenger and a crew to passenger ratio of one for every 2.3 passengers.
