Feb 29 - Record Number Of Inaugural Cruise Calls For 2016

Written by YGTV Team on 29 February 2016.

Gibraltar Port is scheduled to receive 227 cruise calls this year, which is an 11% increase on last year, which in itself was a record year. These visits will bring an estimated 350,000 passengers.

A record number of inaugural calls augers well for a busy season with no less than 18 cruise ships making their first ever visits to Gibraltar this year. Six of the vessels will be brand new, calling here while on their maiden season including Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, Carnival Vista of Carnival Vista of Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America’s Koningsdam (all due to enter service in April) and Seven Seas Explorer, billed by its operator Regent Seven Seas as the most luxurious ship ever built, which will be completed in June. German operator TUI Cruises has included Gibraltar for the first time and scheduled nine calls by its five ships Mein Schiff 1-5.

Minister for Tourism, Samantha Sacramento, says she is delighted at the progress of Government strategy in the continued interest in Gibraltar: “The record number of inaugural cruise calls consolidates the robust trend experienced in 2015 when we had an extremely busy summer and 27 more cruise ships arriving in the port of Gibraltar compared to 2014. This bustling activity underlines the effective work carried out by the GTB and the Gibraltar Port Authority in marketing and promoting the port of Gibraltar. It is also a vote of confidence by the global cruise industry both in our tourist product, and in our capacity to handle some of the largest ships in the world.”

Minister Sacramento added: “This is a success story which further underlines the political leadership and vision of the GSLP-Liberal Government and our policy of striking one to one relationships with cruise company executives and working partnerships with the key stakeholders in the private sector”.

The full cruise schedule is available online at http://www.gibraltarport.com/schedules 

Pic: The ‘Aegean Odyssey' making its inaugural call in June last year.