CRUISE PORTS: Record cruise calls

Queen Elizabeth.

A number of ports are reporting a record year for cruise ship calls. The French port of Le Havre has had four three-ship days this year, with the final one, on 12 September, seeing the port host three German ships. Between them, Mein Schiff 2, Aidasol and Artania delivered more than 5,000 passengers to the Normandy town.
Meanwhile, Warnemünde recorded 181 calls by 40 ships and a throughput of 300,000 passengers during the year. The port had four days on which there were four ships visiting, and 14 days with three ships in port.

In 2013 the northern Spanish port of Bilbao will see something of a boost in passenger numbers when Pullmantur will sail four Heart of Europe itineraries calling at Dover, IJmuiden, Zeebrugge and Le Havre.

When Holland America Line’s Oosterdam closed the 2012 season in Juneau, Alaska on 26 September, the number of passengers that had passed through the port this year had increased again, although, at 925,000, the total was still below the 2008 peak of more than 1,000,000. Jamaica also saw significant growth from 2010 to 2011, with the number of passengers increasing from 909,000 to 1,124,000.