Business

Cruise ships Belfast bound

NEARLY 110,000 cruise passengers and crew will have set foot in Belfast by the end of October, according to figures yesterday from Cruise Belfast, the marketing partnership between Visit Belfast and Belfast harbour. It makes Belfast the second busiest cruise city in Ireland and for the first time puts it ahead of a host of other UK cities including Liverpool and Glasgow. This year also sees cruise lines calling in Belfast for the first time, including this week the ruby Princess, a 19-deck luxury ship, which enjoys regular tours of the Caribbean, and has a total capacity of 4,200 passengers and crew. But the largest cruise ship ever to arrive in Belfast, the royal Princess, will arrive in September, carrying 3,600 passengers and 1,300 crew.