MS Kronprins Harald
Encyclopedia
MS
Ship prefix
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...
Oscar Wilde is a cruiseferry
Cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...
owned by Irish Ferries. She in currently in service on Irish Ferries' Rosslare
Rosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeastern-most point of Ireland's coastline, handling passenger and freight ferries to and from Wales and France....
- Cherbourg and Rosslare - Roscoff
Roscoff
Roscoff is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.The nearby Île de Batz, called Enez Vaz in Breton, is a small island that can be reached by launch from the harbour....
routes. The ship was built in Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
for Jahre Line as MS Kronprins Harald. In 1991 she passed under ownership of Color Line, for whom she sailed until sold to Irish Ferries in 2007.
History
On delivery the Kronprins Harald was placed on Jahre Line's OsloOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
– Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
service. In 1990 Jahre Line merged with Norway Line and Fred. Olsen Lines to form Color Line. After the change the Kronprins Harald was kept on the same route, only her livery changed from the grey hull of Jahre Line to blue hull of Color Line.
In January 2007 the ship was sold to Irish Ferries in preparation for the delivery of Color Line's new mega-cruiseferry MS Color Magic
MS Color Magic
MS Color Magic is a cruiseferry owned and operated by the Norway-based shipping company Color Line on their route connecting Oslo, Norway to Kiel, Germany. She was built by Aker Finnyards, Rauma, Finland in 2007. The Color Magic is the largest cruiseferry in the world.The Color Magic is a sister...
. Irish Ferries chartered the Kronprins Harald back to Color Line until September 2007. The vessel's final sailing for Color Line took place on 31 August 2007 with a the northbound Kiel – Oslo crossing. With her Color Line career over, Irish Ferries took control over her on 2 September 2007. Arriving for rebuilding at Fredericia Skibsværft A/S on 4 September, she was renamed MS Oscar Wilde. She entered service with Irish Ferries in December 2007, replacing MS Normandy
MS Normandy
MS Normandy is a ferry owned by the Singapore-based oil service company Equinox Offshore Accommodation, under charter the Morocco-based ferry operator Ferrimaroc. She was built in 1981 by Götaverken, Gothenburg, Sweden, and first entered service in 1982 as MS Prinsessan Birgitta for Stena Sessan Line...
.
Unlike other Irish Ferries ships, Oscar Wilde has a blue hull and a white funnel instead of a white hull and a green funnel. On 21 November 2007 the ship arrived in Rosslare Harbour for the first time, and entered service on the Rosslare
Rosslare Europort
Rosslare Europort is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeastern-most point of Ireland's coastline, handling passenger and freight ferries to and from Wales and France....
– Cherbourg route on 30 November 2007. In January 2010 there was no service between Rosslare and Cherbourg as she was operating the Rosslare – Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...
route during the docking of MS Isle of Inishmore
MS Isle of Inishmore
MS Isle of Inishmore is a ro-ro ferry owned by Irish Ferries and operated on their Rosslare-Pembroke service. At the time of its introduction, it was the largest car ferry operating in Northern Europe. It is named after Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands...
. and after this the M/S Oscar Wilde was in dry dock for the annual overhaul.
On Tuesday, 2 February 2010 the engine room caught fire upon leaving Falmouth where the ship had undergone its annual refit. No one was injured and the fire was extinguished, but the ship returned to Falmouth so a full investigation can be carried out and repairs can be carried out. Sailings resumed on March 6, 2010 but the service was delayed by operational problem. The Ferry sailed from Cherbourg to Rosslare on Sunday morning 7 March 2010.
Restaurants & Cafés
- Left-Bank Brasserie
- Steakhouse
- The Berneval Waiter Service Restaurant
- Café Lafayette
Bars, Nightclubs & Entertainment
- The Gaiety Lounge
- The Merrion Lounge
- Oscar's Piano Bar