Astoria will make her maiden visit to the facility on Gotland, Sweden on 16 April
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ (CMV) Astoria will be the first-ever vessel to berth at Visby’s new cruise terminal on the island of Gotland, Sweden.
Constructed by Danish firm Aarsleff, Visby’s new cruise facility will be managed by Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP) and will feature a 3,000-square-metre terminal for processing crew and passengers. The facility also has a 530-metre-long pier that can accommodate two 340-metre-long cruise ships simultaneously.
CMV’s Astoria will visit Visby on 16 April as part of a nine-night ‘Hidden Baltic Treasures & Kiel Canal’ cruise from London Tilbury in the UK.
“CMP is looking forward with great enthusiasm to Astoria calling at the new cruise pier in Visby as the first cruise ship ever,” said Henrik Ahlqvist, cruise terminal manager at Visby port. “We are sure it will be an epic day for Astoria’s passengers, crew, Gotland/Visby and CMP.”
Astoria will not return to Visby until 2019, but CMV’s Marco Polo will call in October 2018 during another nine-night ‘Hidden Baltic Treasures & Kiel Canal’ cruise. Many other cruise ships will also be making maiden calls in Visby this year.
“We are delighted to be involved in making history next in Visby,” said Mike Hall, head of marketing at CMV. “Baltic cruises are an important part of our continued development and we are proud to be the company that is leading the field in developing cruise-based tourism in the Baltic. We plan to use the new terminal in future cruises.”