Portland Port have enjoyed a very eventful year, welcoming a total of 19 cruise calls and over 20,000 cruise passengers to the quay side. The port, recently awarded with the “Most Improved Destination” title by Cruise Insight Magazine, enjoyed a record breaking cruise season, which saw return visits from Cruise Lines such as Phoenix Reisen and Crystal Cruises, along with the hotly anticipated arrival of the cruise line AIDA, with the inaugural calls of their vessel the AIDAstella.
Portland’s biggest cruise season to date ran from the beginning of May and saw the last call on the 30th September by Phoenix Reisen’s Albatros. Passengers from the German cruise liner embarked on excursions to Sherborne and Abbotsbury, whilst others ventured further afield to Stonehenge and Salisbury. Some passengers decided to stay local and enjoyed the sights and attractions of Weymouth and Portland using the courtesy shuttle buses provided by the port authority.
In light of such a fantastic year, Ian McQuade, General Manager (Business Development) of Portland Port, said: "Portland has enjoyed its most successful cruise season to date and next year is set to be better again, with the likes of Holland America, Royal Caribbean and AIDA cruise lines all making return visits to the port."
All cruise calls this year have been welcomed by Stuart Cave, the Portland Town Crier. Stuart welcomes the passengers off the ship as they embark on their tours of the local attractions. The port also recruited local language speakers to assist with Portland’s foreign visitors, offering them tourist information in their native tongue. Ian added: “We would like to thank all those involved in the successful running of the cruise calls, including the Portland town crier, local language speakers, quayside entertainers and the Nothe Fort Artillery Volunteers. All of these people make a massive contribution to the enjoyment of our cruise passengers.”
The cruise season of 2014 will start at the beginning of May next year and with around 20 cruise calls already confirmed its set to be another busy year at Portland Port. Now the port's focus has already moved on to 2015 and trying to continue the growth experienced over the last two years. To this end Mr. McQuade last week attended the Seatrade Europe cruise exhibition and conference in Hamburg. "It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends from the cruise sector, both old and new, to promote the benefits of including Portland Port in their itineraries. Portland has now established itself as an attractive alternative to more traditional cruise ports and I hope that we will be adding new cruise lines to our growing list of customers in 2015," Ian commented.
