MS Saga Ruby Cruise Ship and Neptune Catamaran, Western Docks, Dover, Kent, UK

A post-sunrise view of the MS Saga Ruby berthed at CT1 (Cruise Terminal 1) on the Admiralty Pier of Dover Harbour's Western Docks.

Usually the cruise ships reverse into position so that their bows point towards the Western Entrance and English Channel (to the left).

However, like the MS Saga Pearl II, the MS Saga Ruby is small enough to turn around in the Inner Harbour with room to spare when the times comes to leave.

This Dover Harbour photo was taken 6.07 am on Tuesday, 24th of August 2010, from a point between the Porthole Shelters (to the right) and the Lighthouse (to the left) on the Prince of Wales Pier.

Half-an-hour earlier, the MS Saga Ruby had been photographed from St Martin’s Battery on the Western Heights, see: Night Panorama of the Western Docks in Dover Harbour.

Beyond the passenger ship on the right is Shakespeare Cliff, part of the White Cliffs of Dover.

At bottom-left is the Neptune catamaran, a charter boat powered by twin Caterpillar diesel engines and available for angling, diving, and commercial use. The skipper is David Batchelor: more information on the Neptune website.

The MS Saga Ruby has just completed the "Treasures of the Anglo-Celtic Isles" cruise that called at various ports in England, Scotland, Wales, Nothern Ireland, and Eire (Ireland).

Full itinerary (1): Edinburgh, Kirkwall, Portree, Greenock (Glasgow), Belfast, Holyhead (Wales), Dublin, Cork, Falmouth, Guernsey (Channel Islands).

Later in the day, the MS Saga Ruby left Dover for Leith in Scotland where Captain Steve Angove reported (2):

After leaving Dover on the 24th in 40 knots of wind via the eastern entrance to the harbour the Saga Ruby had a reasonable journey north towards its Scottish destination. There was a swell in the afternoon emanating from the north, where Norway was getting a bit of a battering, but the sun was shining and the wind and rain was confined to the South and Western regions of the UK, leaving our passengers to enjoy the day.

Saga Ruby arrived in the Firth of Forth to pick up the pilot at 1:15am, again an unfortunate time for all of us involved in the operation, due to tidal restrictions. The night was calm and Mars was in clear view as a slightly reddish star in the Southwest sector of the sky. For those using binoculars both moons, Phobos and Deimos, were also visible to any would be star gazer.

...Most of our passengers were off to the Edinburgh Tattoo in the evening, an experience I’d had the opportunity to enjoy on our previous visit to Leith less than two weeks ago. Once again the weather was being kind, with not a drop of rain in sight to dampen the spirits of our passengers as they returned for a party on the after deck. With a distinctly Scottish ambiance being created by the sound of the bagpipes and dances around the lido in full swing, the ship prepared to set off in search of some Tall Ships reported to have last been seen in German waters. (Abridged)

Click to see the official Saga Ruby webpage.

The MS Saga Ruby

This vessel is a cruise ship owned and operated by Saga Cruises. She was built as the combined ocean liner/cruise ship MS Vistafjord in 1973 by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders in the United Kingdom for the Norwegian America Line. In 1983 she was sold to Cunard Line, retaining her original name until 1999 when she was renamed MS Caronia. In 2004 she was sold to her current owners. She is the last cruise ship to have been built in the United Kingdom. (3)

Career (3) (4)

Name: 1973-1999: MS Vistafjord, 1999-2004: MS Caronia, 2004 onwards: MS Saga Ruby

Owner: 1973-1983: Norwegian America Line, 1983-2004: Cunard Line, 2004 onwards: Saga Shipping Company

Operator: 1973-1983: Norwegian American Line, 1983-2004: Cunard Line, 2004 onwards: Saga Cruises

Port of registry: 1973-1983: Oslo, Norway, 1983-1999: Nassau, Bahamas, 1999-2004: Southampton, United Kingdom, 2004 onwards: London, United Kingdom

Builder: Swan Hunter Shipbuilders, Newcastle, England, United Kingdom

Call Sign: 9HA2415

IMO: 7214715

MMSI: 248563000

Status: In service

General characteristics (as built)

Type: cruise ship

Tonnage: 24,292 GRT

Displacement: 5,954 metric tons deadweight (DWT)

Length: 191.09 m (626 ft 11 in)

Beam: 25.00 m (82 ft 0 in)

Draught: 8.20 m (26 ft 11 in)

Ice class: 1 C

Installed power: 2 × Sulzer 9RD68 diesels, combined 17,650 kW

Propulsion: 2 propellers

Speed: 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) service speed

Capacity: 670 passengers (maximum)

General characteristics (after 2005 refit)

Tonnage: 24,492 GT (gross tonnage)

Draught: 8.23 m (27 ft 0 in)

Decks: 9 (passenger accessible)

Capacity: 655 passengers (maximum)

Crew: 380

Click to see all Cruise Ship photos (related tags: Boats, Ferries, Lifeboats, Navy, Sailing Ships, Ships, Tugs, and Workboats).

(1) Cruise Scotland 2010 Schedules

(2) Captain’s blog entry for August 26, 2010 (10:40 pm).

(3) Wikipedia entry for MS Saga Ruby

(4) Marinetraffic entry for MS Saga Ruby

A Dover travel and tourism photo.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town

This is the Images of Dover website: click on any red or blue "John Latter" link to access the Entry Page.

If the ship is in range and its AIS (Automatic Identification System) is on, then the current position of the vessel can be seen on this Marinetraffic.com MS Saga Ruby webpage.

This photo also appears on the Pinterest Dover Cruise Ships board as:

MS Saga Ruby Cruise Ship and Neptune Catamaran, Port of Dover, England

Also see:

MS Saga Ruby approaching CT1, Admiralty Pier, Western Docks, Dover Harbour