By
Rebecca Gibson |
Le Havre, the largest French port for external trade and container traffic, has opened a new cruise terminal. In addition to its reception and services areas, the terminal has fully-equipped turnaround facilities, with check-in counters, a baggage handling area and a baggage scanner.
The Le Havre cruise terminal is run by the Le Havre Tourist Office, which has been developing and promoting cruise activity for 17 years with the growing activity reaching 170,000 passengers in 2011 (up 32.5 per cent compared to 2010) for 95 calls. In 2012, 115 calls are already scheduled with over 200,000 expected passengers, and the season has now also been extended.
In 2011 Costa Cruises ran a series of 11 cruises out of Le Havre. During the ten-day cruise on board the Costa Magica, passengers visited the European cities of Paris, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Oslo and Edinburgh. In 2012, Cunard, Oceania Cruises and Royal Caribbean will operate turnarounds at the port.
The old docks harbour site has also been earmarked for renovation work. The area that connects the port to the city has been restored while the shopping mall ‘Les Docks’ opened two years ago and Port Vauban, the new marina in the city centre, was unveiled this year.
The port of Le Havre is accessible 24 hours a day and is the fifth largest port in Europe with the capacity to host some of the biggest cruise ships in service in the world.