Visit of the Cruise Ship Le Lyrial to Tristan, March 2017
Report and photos from Shirley Squibb and Kelly Burns
MV Le Lyrial arriving off Edinburgh.
The cruise ship MV Le Lyrial from the French operator Ponant paid its first visit to Tristan on Friday 17th March 2017. On arrival in the morning, the sea conditions were not very nice. The Harbour Master assessed the harbour conditions, and after a ship's RIB came ashore to pick up Immigration and the island Administrator, it was decided that no passengers should land until re-assessing the sea later in the day. To ensure that its 155 passengers would not miss out, a Post Office and Tourism team headed out to the ship with souvenirs and philatelic material, and set up shop in one of the ship's lounges. The ship then spent the morning circumnavigating the island.
On her return back to the settlement, the weather had improved, and passengers were able to start disembarking after lunch. Happy to be finally ashore, visitors enjoyed the afternoon wandering about the settlement, having a quick round of golf, and visiting the Albatross Bar. They also partook in guided tours of Edinburgh village and the fishing factory. The last zodiac returned to the Le Lyrial at 6:30pm and the ship remained anchored offshore for the evening, beautifully lit up "like the Eiffel Tower", and much admired by the community. She departed next morning to spend the day at the outer islands before heading off to Cape Town. We hope she will return again next year!
If you were on Le Lyrial, we would appreciate receiving your feedback using our Visitors' Feedback Form.
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| The Harbour Master calling Le Lyrial's RIB into harbour | Post Office and Handicrafts staff heading to Le Lyrial |
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| Zodiac Shuttles | Leaving the ship |
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| Le Lyrial Tourists happy to be finally ashore | Settlement Tour |
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| Shopping at the gift shop | Passengers play a round of Golf |
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| Evening anchored offshore | |