By
Elizabeth Robinson |
The Port of Kiel in Germany is expecting to welcome a record of 168 cruise calls from 32 vessels carrying a total of 600,000 cruise passengers in 2018. This represents a 17% rise on the 143 calls made by 29 vessels in 2017.
The cruise season will begin on 6 April with the arrival of the Fred. Olsen Cruise Line’s Boudicca. The most frequent visitors to the port will be from AIDA Cruises, which will call at the port at least 63 times, Costa Cruises, TUI Cruises and MSC Cruises. The biggest cruise ship visiting this season will be MSC Cruises' 139,000gt MSC Preziosa on 28 April.
The highlights of the season include the visits of TUI Cruises’ latest ship, Mein Schiff 1, on 27 April and Cunard Line’s Queen Victoria, which will tie up at the Ostseekai on 17 July.
“I am very pleased that we have been able to add two new customers this year – the US shipping company Viking Ocean Cruises and the Spanish shipping company Pullmantur Cruises,” said Dirk Claus, managing director at the Port of Kiel.
Fourteen visits are expected during the Kieler Woche sailing regatta from 16-24 June.
“Kiel is among the leading cruise ship departure and destination ports in northern Europe,” said Claus. “We want to consolidate this position by continuing to invest in our facilities.”
In summer, work will begin on the construction of a second terminal building at the Ostseekai, which will allow the port to accept bigger ships with more passengers in future. The 4,000 square-metre two-storey building is expected to open at the start of the 2019 season.