By
Rebecca Gibson |
The UK’s Portland Port handled 2,681 cruise passengers on 6 August, making it the port’s busiest day to date.
Arriving on AIDA Cruises’ AIDAstella, the passengers were greeted by German-speaking tourism representatives from Weymouth and Portland and Stuart Cave, Portland’s town crier. The guests then departed from the port for various shore excursions via a complimentary free shuttle bus service.
“This is another impressive milestone for the port and it is incredible to see just how far the port has come over the past five years,” said Ian McQuade, general manager of business development.
AIDAstella has visited Portland eight times over the last two years, bringing more than 17,000 passengers to the port. Although the ship will not return to the port in the near future, another AIDA vessel will call at Portland in 2015.
Portland is to open its newly extended cruise pier in summer 2016, which will enable it to handle some of the world’s largest ships.