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2011: Cruise Port Hamburg continues to grow.
2012: Hamburg Cruise Center is anticipating record results with over 400,000 passengers and a total of 164 calls from cruise ships.

Free of use photo material at http://www.hamburgcruisecenter.eu/en/content/press-photos

Maritime Highlights 2012
The river Elbe rolling out the red carpet for ships

For the first time in Cunard’s history: a world cruise from/to Hamburg. In total 12 calls of the Queens and a double call on July 15.
The season will extend over an eleven-month period for the first time in Hamburg's cruise history.
The month of May will again be pivotal: this period will see cruise ships call at the Port of Hamburg a total of 34 times. The resultant incoming passenger volumes will total 93,000 in that month alone. On the Hamburg Port Anniversary (11-13 May 2012), 8 cruise ships ("AIDAblu", "AIDAluna", "AIDAmar", "AIDAsol", "Deutschland", "Le Boréal", "MSC Lirica" and "Queen Mary 2"), the "Star Flyer" and the training ship " Alexander von Humboldt 2" will all be putting in an appearance.
Star guest at this year's anniversary celebrations will be the "AIDAmar", which will be christened in the Hanseatic city on 12 May. The world's biggest maritime christening ceremony will see an escort provided by the three sister ships.
A further ship's naming ceremony will take place on 8 June, when the shipping company Plantours will be christening the "Hamburg" – naturally in Hamburg.
August will then see the third staging of the Hamburg Cruise Days, the signature event in the cruise industry. A total of seven cruise ships will be calling at the Hanseatic city between 17 and 19 August ("AIDAluna", "AIDAmar", "Astor", "Columbus", "Deutschland", "MSC Lirica" and "Queen Mary 2").
French shipping company Compagnie du Ponant will also strengthen its presence in Hamburg in 2012 and is sending two of its yachts to the Hanseatic city ("Le Borèal" and "Le Diamant").
The 2012 season will culminate once again with cruise ship visits over the Christmas period. Five ships are expected, including two calls by the "Amadea" from Phoenix Reisen, "Balmoral" from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, "Oriana" from P&O Cruises, "Saga Ruby" from Saga Cruises and Cunard's "Queen Victoria".
AIDA Cruises will again have the greatest presence of all the cruise lines in Hamburg in 2012. All in all, five AIDA ships ("AIDAcara", "AIDAblu", "AIDAluna", "AIDAsol" and "AIDAmar") will voyage to Hamburg 48 times.
Hamburg will also be the port of call for eleven maiden visits in the 2012 season – twice as many as in 2011. The cruise ships "AIDAmar", "Columbus 2", "Costa neoRomantica", "Costa Pacifica", "Funchal", "Hamburg", "Le Diamant", "Ocean Countess", "Oriana", "Saga Ruby" and "Seabourn Sojourn" will all be berthing for the first time in the Hanseatic city, with the highlight on 8 June, when two ships will be simultaneously calling in for the first time. Hamburg's waterfront will be marked by the images of numerous ships in 2012. There will be a total of 31 double port calls, five triple port calls and on two occasions five ships will be lining up. The number of dual visits (2011: 20 double port calls) shows how urgently the second large ship berth was required in Altona. 70 ship calls are planned to date for the Cruise Center Altona in 2012.
The largest ship due to be calling at Hamburg in 2012 is again the "Queen Mary 2" (tonnage: 150,000, length: 345 metres), followed by the "Costa Pacifica" (tonnage: 115,000, length: 290 metres), which will also be bringing the largest number of passengers (3,780).
The most frequent visitor to Hamburg will be the "MSC Lirica" with 25 calls in total, followed by "AIDAluna" with 24.