Following a record-breaking 12 months of cruise arrivals in 2023, the Port of Piraeus, close to Athens, Greece, welcomed its first cruise ship of the brand new 12 months on January 2, 2024. The Costa Cruises’ ship formally launched the port’s 2024 operations, that are anticipated to set new historic data in cruise arrivals.
Cruise Arrivals Topped 1.5 Million in 2023
Costa Cruises’ Costa Deliziosa had the excellence of turning into the primary cruise ship to name on the Port of Piraeus in 2024, when the two,500-guest ship pulled into port throughout a 7-night crusing from Istanbul in Turkey to Trieste, Italy.
As the biggest port in Greece and one of many largest within the Jap Mediterranean, the Port of Piraeus sometimes receives a whole bunch of cruise ships per 12 months, and 2023 was a record-breaker. Cruise arrivals topped 1.5 million versus 880,000 in 2022.
In 2023, 760 ship calls had been recorded, with 525 of them by ships home-porting in Piraeus, a preferred departure port for Jap Mediterranean cruises to the Greek Isles and Istanbul, in addition to Adriatic Sea voyages to Croatia and Venice, Italy. About 800,000 of the cruise arrivals in 2023 had been crusing on homeported ships.
Waiting for 2024’s pre-booking schedule, the port will welcome a whole bunch extra ship calls, about 1,042 in whole, with roughly 800 of these calls made by home-ported ships.
A press release from port Chairman Yu Zenggang famous that “the dynamic path of the cruise business is an important element of port technique because it constitutes a helpful exercise for a lot of stakeholders.”
A number of the ships home-porting in Piraeus throughout winter 2024 are Celeb Cruises’ Celeb Infinity, Viking’s Viking Saturn, and Celestyal Cruises’ Celestyal Discovery. Costa Cruises is including “Flight+Cruise” vacation packages aboard the three,470-guest Costa Fortuna through the summer time 2024 season, providing weeklong itineraries roundtrip from Piraeus to Istanbul, Mykonos, Crete, Rhodes, Santorini, and different locations.
Different ships scheduled to name in 2024 embody AIDA Cruises’ AIDAblu, Silversea Cruises’ Silver Spirit, Princess Cruises’ Solar Princess, MSC Cruises’ MSC Sinfonia, Windstar Cruises’ Star Legend, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Viva, and Crystal’s Crystal Symphony.
The Port of Piraeus affords 11 cruise ship berths and might accommodate the business’s mega-ships. Vessels as much as 1,295 feet-long can dock, that means that even the biggest ship on the planet, Royal Caribbean’s new-build Icon of the Seas, measuring 1,196-feet lengthy, can dock. Icon of the Seas is coming into service in late January 2024.
Port of Piraeus Plans For Shoreside Energy
The port, a serious participant within the cruise business’s Mediterranean area, has three passenger terminals and is roughly a half-hour drive from central Athens.
Port officers introduced in December 2023 that they held a convention on ship electrification, a key step towards the transition to shoreside energy infrastructure. The plan is a part of the port’s efforts to stick to the European Union’s “Match for 55” plan, which requires lowering greenhouse gasoline emissions by no less than 55% by 2030 in contrast with 1990 ranges.
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The plan on the port is to put in 4 shoreside energy installations for cruise ships and several other extra for cargo delivery. Technical research have been accomplished and building of the amenities are beneath approach.
Cruisers who embark their ship on the Port of Piraeus or who go to the port throughout a ship name can avail themselves of a number of close by sightseeing choices that spotlight the landmarks of historic Greece.
These embody the Acropolis, the place monuments date from 400 BC, such because the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena. Different widespread websites are the Roman Discussion board and Syntagma Sq., dwelling of the Greek Parliament, and the Plaka, a industrial district with cafes, eating places, and outlets.
