A row of nineteen sand-coloured warehouses built by the Knights of St John during the eighteenth century is among the first sights cruise passengers see upon entering the Grand Harbour of Malta’s capital city, Valletta. Lining the waterfront, their brightly coloured doors representing the goods once stored there – blue for fish, green for produce, yellow for wheat and red for wine – these baroque buildings now contain restaurants, shops and office space following an eight-year renovation project at the port, which included tearing down the fortress wall to unveil them.
Nowadays the port is also building something else. Valletta Cruise Port CEO John Portelli says: “We have been here since 2001 and the first eight years were really focused on developing what was a ‘no go’ area. But over the past couple of years, we have been building relationships with the lines and it is our biggest selling point. We don’t wait for cruise lines to tell us what they need, but we go to the lines and ask them what we should improve. One of the positive spin-offs of this relationship that we receive reports from them. We score very highly at around 94 per cent.”
In 2011 Cruise Insight awarded Valletta Cruise Port the titles ‘most responsive port’ and ‘the best terminal’, while good relationships with the lines have paid off in other ways.
Portelli says: “We are the first European Union port in which ships are allowed to open their casinos when they are in Valletta. Having discussed it with the lines, we spoke to Government and the law was changed last year. Now we are waiting for regulations to be issued which will allow cruise lines to open their casinos for their passengers, while in Malta. That’s the kind of relationship we have with the lines.”
The port has received a lot of support from the city too, Portelli explains: “When a line needs to come in the evening the Malta Tourism Authority makes sure the museum is open. A lot of shops open on Sundays and feast days. We try to inform the shops that cruise lines are coming and prepare a monthly berthing programme to retail representatives in Valletta and around the islands so they know when a cruise line is coming.”
Valletta is one of the few ports that can claim to be close to the capital city at only 15 minutes walk away, Portelli says. “A new lift is expected to be completed in October 2012 which will save passengers the walk and make it even quicker.”
In 2011, work was carried out by Transport Malta to enable one side of the harbour to accommodate up to 300-metre vessels at Pinto 4 and 5 wharfs, which were extended by 50 metres.
“This was already 307 metres so now we’ve handled the Celebrity Solstice and MSC Splendida which are 333 metres, says Portelli. “We have also had MSC Splendida and MSC Messina in on the same day.
With the increasingly larger vessels, does the breakwater present problems for entering the harbour? Transport Malta (TM) chief officer of the ports and yachting directorate Captain David Bugeja says: “This is a historic port and even our breakwater is a Grade 1 scheduled structure (protected) so for navigation purposes the port entrance poses certain challenges.
“But we have invested in a state-of-the-art ship simulator and we buy all the models of ships that are coming to Malta. We do our own risk assessment, exchange this information with the ships’ masters and offer them free simulator training too. With bigger ships like MSC Splendida and Fantasia, we have been quite successful and these ships are comfortable coming to Malta.”
Although Malta cruise passenger numbers each year are around 550,000 and the 2012 January to June figures are around 25,000 more than the same period in 2011, winter cruising is considered a viable way to increase calls.
Ground handling company Malta Cruise Services managing director Ivan Mifsud is one of many Maltese voices keen to see cruise lines overnighting and expanding their season into the winter months. He says: “Even a couple of days in a port allow people to enjoy a museum, nightlife restaurants and various sights. There is a limit to what you can see in five hours and on a cruise in winter. Often these are older people who have quite a lot of time on their hands and may not be agile walkers, so that will give them more time to explore.
“They might go out in the morning and say ‘in the afternoon, have a rest – tomorrow we’ll go out again’, so it’s a softer way of approaching the destination and also saves fuel for the cruise line. The port charges might go up, but I’m sure that could be negotiated with the ports and they would be bringing in a lot of winter business.”
Bugeja agrees: “Having lines commit themselves to longer stays with the guarantee that they get special rates for berthing and passenger handling seems to make sense and appears to be quite sustainable.”
Malta’s 7,000 years of history means cruise passengers have much to see and do, from megalithic temples dating from around 3,000 BC and thought to be the oldest free-standing structures in the world, to the old city of Mdina, shopping in Valletta, the Grand Master’s palace, or simply people-watching on the waterfront.
Around half an hour away by ferry or visited as the next cruise call after overnighting Malta, Gozo is a more laid back version of the larger island. Mifsud says: “Having Malta and Gozo together gives other advantages. Cruise lines don’t pay any port charges on Gozo, so they get two days for the price of one. There’s only one hour’s sailing distance between the two destinations, so low fuel burn and low carbon footprint, and it’s a very scenic sail.
“You get to see the east coast of Malta which includes the St Julian’s shoreline, St Paul’s Islands and the Blue Lagoon. With some ships we put a guide on board, so passengers get a commentary on what they are seeing.”
Gozo offers two cruise ports, Mgarr and Xlendi. Cruise vessels anchor at the main harbour, Mgarr, while at the 80-metre deep Xlendi, a berthing buoy is available and in both cases tenders deliver passengers to the quay.
Gozo director of tourism and economic development Manuel Tabone says: “What we are doing in Gozo with Valletta Cruise Port and the national authorities is promoting Gozo as ‘your next step to Malta’. Cruise liners have their own problems in terms of fuel economy and itinerary planning and so far this has been successful for lines such as Seabourn. They stop in Gozo and again in Malta, so what they are selling is two different stops.”
Once visitors land, Gozo is a tranquil destination, says Tabone. “You don’t get the traffic that you get in Malta but Gozo is well connected in terms of public transport – taxi service, excursion and open-topped buses, jeep drives and car hire. There’s the same kind of diversity you have in Malta, but just on a smaller scale.
He adds: “I have been on islands that are beautiful, tourist islands, but have been caught in a situation where if you were not among the first people landing from the ship you risk not having transport at all. Because there are such a limited number of taxis you end up not finding a taxi or you don’t manage to hire a car and from my experience, this is not the case in Gozo.”
This is an abridged version of an article that appeared in the Autumn/ Winter 2012 edition of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read the full article, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats.