By
Rebecca Gibson |
Portugal’s Port of Lisbon expects to receive a record 355 cruise calls and 560,000 passengers during the 2013 cruise season.
With a 167 per cent rise in interporting calls and a 65 per cent increase in turnarounds, Lisbon handled 150 cruise visits during the first half of the year, marking a two per cent rise compared to the same period in 2012.
Ten of the 15 cruise ships making inaugural visits called during the first half of the year, including MSC Cruises’ MSC Preziosa, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Europa 2 and Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess.
In the second half of the year, the port is scheduled to welcome more than 200 calls and 340,000 passengers, with 45 calls and around 60,000 guests expected in November, Lisbon’s busiest month.
In 2014, Lisbon is set to construct a €22 million cruise terminal, enabling the port to cater for more turnaround cruises and handle around 1.8 million passengers. Designed by architect João Luís Carrilho da Graça, the terminal is expected to double the current cruise traffic of 500,000 passengers over the next ten years. The building is due for completion in 2015.