By
Elizabeth Robinson |
MSC Cruises' MSC Magnifica has made her first cruise call in the port of Valencia, Spain, as part of a repositioning cruise that will take the ship to South America for the winter season.
To celebrate this cruise call, the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) gave a commemorative metope to the captain of the ship, Francesco Saverio. The ceremony was attended by Emiliano González, the president of MSC Cruises, and Aurelio Martínez, president of PAV.
“We have been operating continuously for 12 seasons in the port of Valencia and we intend to increase it in the coming years,” said Emilio González,president of MSC Cruises. “In 2018, two ships will regularly visit this port, the MSC Divina, which will cover the campaign from March to September, and the company’s flagship, MSC Meraviglia, which has 2,200 cabins and will make port calls during the months of October and November. This commitment will allow us to exceed 40 port calls in the port of Valencia in 2018 and increase the number of passengers by 20%.”
By the end of 2016, the port of Valencia was visited by 403,264 passengers from 181 different cruise calls, an increase of 7.66% compared to the previous year. In 2017, over 350,000 passengers landed in the city, 2.17% more than in the same period of 2016.
“A bet that has materialised in facts,” said PAV's Martínez. “The plans he has for the coming years are good not only for the port but especially for the city.”
The city’s cruise offer is varied and in addition to the traditional routes through the Albufera, new routes have been incorporated. These include the religious art route, which features a visit to the Cathedral and other churches, the Silk Road visits to the Lonja de la Seda, the newly restored Silk Museum and the Velluters neighbourhood or the Valencia and Fallas Route.