Around 184 ocean cruise ships, 1,700 river cruise vessels and 775,000 passengers to visit ports
By
Rebecca Gibson |
The ports of Amsterdam and IJmuiden are expected to welcome a total of 184 ocean cruise ships, around 1,700 river cruise vessels and more than 775,000 passengers in 2015.
Amsterdam will welcome 142 ocean cruise ship calls including inaugural visits from Celebrity Cruises’ 2,850-passenger Celebrity Silhouette and MSC Cruises’ 333m MSC Splendida, which will be the largest-ever ship to berth in the city. Meanwhile, IJmuiden will handle 42 ocean cruise ship visits including maiden calls from three AIDA Cruises vessels.
Amsterdam and IJmuiden are also becoming increasingly popular ports of call on many river cruise itineraries. The total number of river ships visiting Amsterdam increased from 1,483 in 2013 to 1,685 in 2014 and is expected to pass the 1,700 mark this year. In addition, Viking River Cruises christened eight new ships in Amsterdam on 24 March.
“Amsterdam will attract almost as many cruise ships this year as in the record year of 2012, when we welcomed a total of 144 ships,” said René Kouwenberg, director of Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. “We were also informed this February that Holland America Line’s new Koningsdam cruise ship will homeport at Amsterdam from 2016. We are pleased to welcome the line back after several years of absence and could not have asked for a better gift in our anniversary year.”
Cruise tourism is also expected to continue boosting Amsterdam’s local economy in 2015.
“Tourism also generates considerable income for both the city and the region as a whole,” said Dertje Meijer, CEO of Port of Amsterdam. “Shipping companies and their passengers spend around €90 million here annually, while the cruising industry has created roughly 1,100 jobs in Amsterdam so the port is working to keep optimising our facilities on an ongoing basis.”