Holyhead: tender or pier?

[craig01020]

Good morning all.

My 2025 Carnival cruise will be visiting Holyhead, Wales. According to Carnival's website: "Water shuttle sometimes required; varies by sailing."

I think we're the only ship in port that day, June 22, 2025.

Has anyone traveled there lately, and did your ship dock or tender? Thanks.

[VMax1700]

Docked.  It is a very busy ferry port with many ship movements per day. 

[Harters]

5 hours ago, craig01020 said:

the only ship in port

That'll be the only cruise ship. As noted, Holyhead s a busy ferry port. It owes its existence to being designed as the main port for traffic between London and Dublin. This was in the early 19th century when , of course, all of the island of Ireland was part of the UK. 

 

Years later, in October 1918, the Royal Mail ship, Leinster, was operating between Ireland and Holyhead when she was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of at least 560 on board, just an hour after leaving port in Ireland. One was a young man from my borough - 18 year old James Birch. As with most on board, he was serving in the army, having been conscripted when he became 18. He was still in training for a cavalry regiment and was coming home on leave. In one of those twists of fate, the German submarine that sank her never returned home, hitting a mine in the North Sea. 

[John Bull]

Used to be a tender port - and fairly unreliable in the wrong weather / sea state.

Then a few years the Anglesey / Rio Tinto aluminium plant closed down and its long jetty (still called the Rio Tinto Jetty) was taken over for cruise ships.

Very much more reliable but not 100% - I'm aware of at least one cruise ship that failed to make port.

 

JB 🙂

[ABQrobin]

It was a tender port for us this past Sept, 2023.  Regal Princess.

 

[WendyVF]

Last September on Carnival, we docked.