Hamburg cruise industry also provides many events in the 2nd half of the year

While the 2009 cruise season may slowly be drawing to a close there are still numerous maritime highlights to come at Port of Hamburg.

The first half of this year has already been characterised by diverse maritime highlights, such as the christening of TUI Cruises’ “Mein Schiff”, the first week-long cruise to be offered by the “Queen Mary 2” from/to Hamburg and the official opening of the large ships’ berth in Altona on the 15th of August. The berth can accommodate vessels with a length of up to 300 metres. Construction operations for the new terminal will be completed in the summer of 2010.
On 5th September the Hamburg Cruise Center officially welcomed its 100,000th cruise passenger. The passenger was presented with a weekend in Hamburg, including a voucher for a two-night stay in the 4 star Mövenpick Hotel Hamburg’s Tower Suite.

On 21st September the EUROPA, the flag ship of Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten, will be celebrating its 10th birthday with a special harbour cruise. The cruise route will be along the banks of the river Elb, commencing at Blankenese via Köhlbrand Bridge in Port of Hamburg. Over 20 creative congratulatory birthday messages will make this a special trip, demonstrating the fascination of the Port of Hamburg and Hamburg’s riverside districts from an unusual perspective.

Just one day later Port of Hamburg will be welcoming four ships simultaneously – a unique event this season. The visiting ships are Deilmann’s “MS Deutschland”; AIDA Cruises’ “AIDAcara” and Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten’ “Europa” and “Hanseatic”.

Cunard Line’s Victoria will return for winter cruises. Ships from P&O and Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines also will bring shoppers to Hamburg in 2009 for a third season of Christmas cruises. Drossel said, “With their offerings of traditional handicrafts and foods, the Christmas markets offer the cruise lines an unparalleled opportunity to extend the cruise season in Northern Europe and create a unique brand involving wintertime activities.”
Overall in 2009 the Port of Hamburg expects to welcome cruise ships on a total of 88 days, and thus in turn greet some 130,000 passengers. This represents an increase in passenger numbers of 45% over the previous year.