‘Thank You’ Letter To Mayor Quinlan From Balmoral Passenger

Dear Councillor Quinlan,

Re: Titanic Memorial Cruise

On behalf of myself and all the passengers, crew and staff on board the “MS Balmoral”, we would just like to express and extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to all the people of Cobh for the “one hundred thousand welcomes” or “cead mile failte” that we received on the 9^th April 2012 when we sailed into Cobh on the centenary of the visit of Titanic to your town.

Despite Balmoral arriving three hours late due to adverse weather, the town stayed to welcome everyone in on Balmoral. The sight of all the people on the quay side, from their homes, the pub, pathways and of course the band when we arrived was an amazing spectacle and I know from many passengers and crew I spoke to on board, each and everyone of us was overwhelmed.  I know that the town’s Council had put a lot of work into ensuring that we all received a wonderful Irish welcome. Even when we set sail at 11pm, people were still on the quay side to wave us off.

The Balmoral arriving to Cobh - Photograph Mike Bardsley (Cobh Edition)

We also received a small flotilla of boats, Jet skis and the wonderful RNLI to escort us in.

I know that Miles Morgan on behalf of Miles Morgan Travel and Captain Robert Bamberg thanked the town and people of Cobh on the day but on behalf of all the passengers we were deeply touched and where able to enjoy your beautiful town.

I would be grateful if you could arrange for this letter to be published in your local paper or how you think fit to reach as many people of Cobh as possible.

I would be very interested to know the outcome.

Kind  Regards,

Peter J. Berry

UK