By
Rebecca Gibson |
More than one million visitors and 12 cruise ships helped the Port of Hamburg to celebrate its 825th anniversary from 9-11 May.
Over the three-day period, the German port handled 37,000 cruise passengers, 27 sail-by passages in front of the port’s Landungsbrücken pontoons and held a fireworks display.
“The presence of twelve different cruise ships honoured the largest port festival in the world and gave the event a unique cruise flair,” said Gerd Drossel, managing director Hamburg Cruise Center.
On 9 May, the port celebrated the inaugural visit from Compagnie du Ponant’s L’Austral by presenting the ship’s captain Olivier Marien with the Hamburg admiralty plaque. AIDA Cruises’ AIDAluna, Passat Kreuzfahrten’s Delphin and Peter Deilmann Cruises’ Deutschland called in Hamburg on the same day. MSC Cruises’ MSC Magnifica also sailed round the port to give a rendition of The White Stripes ‘Seven Nations Army’ and a birthday song on her tyfon.
Seven cruise ships and 16,000 passengers passed through Hamburg Cruise Center on 10 May onboard Phoenix Reisen’s Albatros and Artania, Peter Deilmann’s Deutschland, Plantours’ Hamburg, TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 1 and AIDA’s AIDsol and AIDAstella. Sponsoring the anniversary celebrations, AIDAsol and AIDAstella were moored directly in front of the Landungsbrücken quays to provide an onboard laser show and a firework display.
During the day, Deutschland offered a harbour cruise for onboard guests with live moderation from the bridge, while Hamburg – which was re-christened in the Hanseatic city in 2012 – embarked on a one-night party cruise along the river Elbe.
Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth visited Hamburg on 11 May as part of her world cruise, docking at the port simultaneously with Deutschland, Hamburg, and MSC Magnifica. All of the ships departed the port together in the early evening to join a large ship parade.
Anniversary celebrations also took place onshore throughout the weekend. Costa Cruises was based at the Marco-Polo Terrassen to provide information about its cruise offers, while the Hamburg del mar beach club on the Landungsbrücken quays was transformed into the ‘AIDA World’. Spectators were invited to view the 10 May fireworks show from this venue.