By
Rebecca Gibson |
The Port of Kiel celebrated a record cruise season in 2016, handling 6% more passengers (485,000) and an 11% increase cruise calls, from 132 in 2015 to 147 last year.
In 2017, Kiel is set to host 440,000 passengers who will arrive during 133 calls from 28 different cruise ships. The season will open on 9 April with a call from AIDA Cruises’ AIDAcara and close on 21 October with a visit from AIDAvita.
This year, the port will also handle three simultaneous cruise calls on five occasions, and four cruise vessels on both 3 June and 12 August. Meanwhile, 15 ships will be in port during the Kieler Woche sailing regatta from 17-25 June, and TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 6 will sail her maiden voyage roundtrip from Kiel on 3-14 June.
MSC Cruises’ 3,970-guest MSC Fantasia will also start homeporting in Kiel on 29 April and offer 21 departures from the port.
“Our terminal facilities are designed to handle ship turnarounds involving 4,000 passengers,” said Dirk Claus, managing director of the Port of Kiel. “As the base port for MSC Fantasia, Kiel is exploiting this capability for the first time and is now entering a new dimension.”