By
Rebecca Gibson |
The Port of Tyne in North East England expects to handle a record 42 cruise ship visits in the 2016 season.
Six ships will make inaugural calls at the International Passenger Terminal including Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Magic, AIDA Cruises’ AIDAvita and FTI Cruises’ Berlin, while Holland America Line's Zuiderdam and the soon-to-be-launched Koningsdam will also visit for the first time.
In another first, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines flagship Balmoral will homeport on the Tyne, offering 12 departures, while Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ will offer ten sailings from the port.
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“The Port of Tyne is the closest UK Port to the Baltics, the Fjords and Russia and offers easy access to the Canary Islands, The Azores, Portugal, Morocco and Spain,” said Andrew Moffat, Port of Tyne’s CEO. “The Tyne is not only an excellent choice to start or finish a cruise, but it can rival many European ports in terms of easy access to world-class tourist attractions all within one hour from port. We hope many people will take advantage of this and spend a day or two in the region before they set off on their cruise.”
Port of Tyne can accommodate vessels of more than 300m in length and up to 10m in draft at its purpose-built cruise berth Northumbrian Quay. Meanwhile, vessels in excess of 215m can be accommodated at Whitehill Point, the port’s second cruise ship berth.
“With 17 years of cruise expertise, diverse destinations to choose from and an award-winning passenger terminal it’s easy to see why cruise operators like Disney Cruise Line are including the Port of Tyne in their first ever UK itineraries and why bookings direct from the port are on the up,” said Nolan Gray, Port of Tyne’s business development director. “The International Passenger Terminal is well equipped to handle a wide variety of cruise calls and the recent decision by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines to move their flagship Balmoral to the Port of Tyne as its homeport for 2016-2017 provides further flexibility for travellers wanting to start their cruise holiday from their local port.”
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