Cruise Copenhagen Network expects cruise numbers to rise across Denmark this year
By
Rebecca Gibson |
The Danish port of Aalborg is to welcome a record number of cruise calls and passengers in 2015, according to the Cruise Copenhagen Network.
This year, the port, which welcomed one cruise ship carrying less than 800 people in 2014, is to handle 15 calls and around 14,000 passengers. This includes return calls from Fred. Olsen Cruise Line’s Braamer, which will visit twice; Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ (CMV) Marco Polo, which will also make two calls; Holland America Line’s Prinsendam; and Saga Holidays’ Saga Sapphire. Maiden calls will include Viking Line’s first-ever cruise ship Viking Star, which will make six visits; CMV’s recently christened Magellan; Ponant Cruises’ Le Boreal and Oceania Cruises’ Nautica. Cruise passengers will be able to sail through the fjords before arriving in port and visit a variety of shoreside attractions.
Meanwhile, the port of Fredericia, which hosted its first-ever cruise call in August 2014 when Royal Caribbean International’s 2,076-passenger Legend of the Seas berthed at it 350m pier, will welcome five calls in 2015. These include Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Silhouette, which will call three times, Royal Caribbean International’s Serenade of the Seas and Saga Holidays’ Saga Sapphire. Visiting cruise passengers can visit the home of author Hans Christian Andersen in Odense, the original Legoland Park, and UNESCO-site, the Royal Jelling Museum.
In total, Danish cruise ports will welcome 100 calls and around 82,823 passengers in 2015, marking a significant rise from the 45 cruise visits and 55,947 in 2013.
Looking ahead to 2016, the port of Hundested in North Copenhagen will handle its first-ever cruise calls from British-based cruise lines Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines and Saga Cruises. Formerly a fishing harbour and ferry port, the destination is now focused on tourism and offers cruise guests the opportunity to visit galleries, the Viking Ship Museum, Hamlet’s castle Kronborg, a glass design centre, eateries, a brewery and nature attractions along the Danish Riviera.
Next year, Copenhagen expects to handle 760,000 cruise passengers, which will be higher than the figures for 2014 and 2015. In 2016, turnarounds in Copenhagen will also increase to 136, more than in previous years.