Goteborg has seven turnaround and 52 transit calls this year carrying 4,000 and 65,000 passengers respectively.
In 2012 transit calls booked so far number 49 with 70,000 passengers and it is estimated there will be seven turnarounds.
TUI Cruises will be calling with Mein Schiff 2 for the first time this year as will Windstar Cruises with Wind Spirit. Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ Balmoral and Boudicca will call on Christmas cruises on December 2 and 12.
Three out of the four quays are dedicated to cruiseships and there is also anchorage availability. There are two quays in the inner harbour, one of which has a cruise terminal inaugurated in 2009. Tents are used on those quays with no terminal.
There is a new quay in the outer harbour, Arendal 751, which has a length of 340m and a draught of 9.8m. Royal Caribbean International's Jewel of the Seas will be the first to call on May 22 2011. The quay is a 15-20 minute journey by shuttle bus to the city centre.
The port has accommodated Princess Cruises’ Star Princess with 3,573 passengers on a call in 2010 and on another Jewel of the Seas and AIDA Cruises’ AIDAcara on the same day carrying a total of 3,330 passengers.
The cruise business has developed rapidly over the last three years, according to Sara Eriksson, project manager cruise at destination development company Goteborg & Co, who says: “In the current situation there are no concrete measures exactly what it intends to develop or when but it is obvious that the city includes the cruise business as an important tourism sector in our city.”
She adds: “The new quay in Arendal is a result of collaboration between the port, Volvo and Goteborg & Co and is a very good example of how we improve the conditions to handle the demand from current cruise lines”.
