By
Rebecca Gibson |
Portland Port in the UK expects to handle 26,500 passengers this year.
The 2015 season opened with an unscheduled call from Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Azores in February and the port handled more than 4,000 passengers in the first weekend of May.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Serenade of the Seas made her inaugural call on 2 May, while Holland America Lines’ Eurodam returned to the port for a second consecutive year on 4 May. Port staff and local ambassadors welcomed passengers before they embarked on coach tours to various local attractions including Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens and Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As usual, the local Nothe Fort Victorian Artillery Brigade fired canons as the ships departed.
“It has been an exciting start to the new cruise season and we are confident that 2015 will prove another successful year at Portland Port,” said Ian McQuade, general manager of commercial at Portland Port.
Portland is scheduled to handle three cruise calls before the end of May including return visits from Noble Caledonia’s Serenissima, Holland America’s Prinsendam and Costa Cruises’ Costa neoRomantica. This summer, the port will welcome inaugural visits from Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Star, AIDA Cruises’ AIDAbella and Costa’s Costa Luminosa.