THE Balmoral - the largest vessel in the Fred Olsen Cruises fleet - is in Douglas today.
The 218.18m long and 43,537 gross register tons vessel is carrying 1,340 passengers and a crew of 525.
The Balmoral was originally built for the Greek owned Royal Cruise Line in 1988 and was acquired by Fred Olsen Cruises in November 2007.
The vessel immediately headed for the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg where a new 30 metre mid section was fitted to the her.
Many residents of the Isle of Man will be well acquainted with Fred Olsen Cruises as their ship, the Black Prince, has been a regular visitor to the Island in the past, before retiring from the fleet in the autumn of 2009.
Political member for Isle of Man Tourism Geoff Corkish MHK said: "The visit of the Balmoral will be the inaugural call of this handsome vessel to our shores and we hope she will become a regular caller, in the same way that the Black Prince frequently featured the Isle of Man as part of its 'Round Britain' cruise programme.
"The vessel has an extensive shore excursion programme with currently 14 coaches hired to transport the passengers on a variety of shore excursions which will encompass much of what the Island has to offer."
It will depart for Dublin at 6pm today.
Photo by John Gregory
