Zeeland Cruise Port and the City of Vlissingen welcomed Azamara Club Cruises’ Azamara Journey for the first time this year.
Free shuttle buses were provided for those passengers wanting to visit Vlissingen while others chose from a variety of excursions on offer.
“The visit went very well. We understood from Azamara that the passengers enjoyed their shore excursions and appreciated the market on the quay with singers and dancers in traditional Dutch clothing very much,” said Yvonne de Wolf, Zeeland Cruise Port.
Rouen was delighted to welcome the Tour de France on July 4. Although there were no cruiseships in to witness the historic event, there could be other opportunities in the years to come.
Although the race changes its route every year, it always ends in Paris which is 135km from the French port. The journey takes about an hour and a half by train or car/bus.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has chosen Antwerp to host its ‘Europa's Best’ culinary event for the third time.
The port is expecting 29 calls this year with ships spending a total of 44 days in port due to overnights from ships such as Hapag-Lloyd’s Europa and Azamara Club Cruises’ Azamara Journey with Explorer from Semester at Sea staying for six days.
MSC Cruises and Cruise & Maritime Voyages are calling the Belgian port for the first time this year with MSC Lirica and Marco Polo (pictured) respectively.
Dover welcomed inaugural visits from Royal Caribbean International’s Brilliance of the Seas and Azamara Club Cruises’ Azamara Journey on May 11 and 12 respectively.
Brilliance of the Seas, accommodating 2,500 passengers with all cabins allocated, arrived in Dover on its penultimate disembarkationcall at Amsterdam the following day. All tours for this cruise took place in Kent and Sussex.
Rouen will welcome Azamara Club Cruises’ Azamara Journey for the first call of the season on April 28. She will return twice in May and once in August.
The last calls of the season will be in December from Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ Black Watch and Boudicca on December 14 and 18 respectively. In total 15 calls are scheduled for 2012.
This year marks the 600th anniversary of Joan of Arc and Rouen is a stage arrival and departure city for the Tour de France on July 4 and 5.
As a result of the growing increase in traffic, in 2012 the Bilbao Port Authority will commence the building of a new cruise terminal with a third berthing line. The works are scheduled for completion mid way through 2014 at an estimated cost of E17.6 million.
The new terminal will have a 27,400m² land surface area, be 76m wide and 355 mlong with a 12m draught. The project includes building a second passenger maritime station and an underground car park.
Submitted by CE-Press on 12 December 2011 - 11:01am
Dover is expecting 156 calls in 2012 bringing more than 250,000 to the port. This represents a 14.7% increase on 2011.
Of the 136 calls in Dover this year, 84 were full turnarounds, 14 partial, one embarkation only and 37 transit calls. Turnaround passengers will reach 138,656 and transit 84,095.
Saga is spending three days in Hardanger Fjord next year for the first time.
Saga Sapphire will be calling Eidfjord, Odda and Loftus. Passengers will be taking part in the Hardangerfjord music festival, both public and private performances.
Ingrid Maderni, shore excursion executive Saga, said: “Norway is a very good destination for us. We can always sell the cruises and they are well received.” For 2013, she says there will be more calls to Hardangerfjord which is a “good region for us”.
The City of Vlissingen, Zeeland, has confirmed it is building a dedicated cruise quay in the outer harbour of Vlissingen for completion at the end of 2013.
