Ports & destinations

Large cruise ships return to Alaska for first time in 21 months

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 11 July 2021 11 July 2021

The first large cruise ship of the 2021 Alaska cruise season icalled in Ketchikan on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruise’s Serenade of the Seas is the first large cruise ship to sail into Alaska waters and officially end the state’s cruise drought after nearly two years.

“It’s a happy day for Alaska’s tourism industry and communities that rely on tourism in Alaska. This short cruise season means the difference between reopening or closing for good for so many small, locally owned businesses. We are grateful to our congressional delegation, governor and legislators for their hard work to bring cruise ships back to the state this year,” said Alaska Travel Industry Association President and CEO Sarah Leonard. “We are really proud that we could fight alongside them on behalf of our members and all of the statewide tourism businesses and support them in this recovery period.”

In 2019, more than 52,000 Alaskans depended on tourism for their income and 1 in 10 jobs was attributed to Alaska tourism. The industry was responsible for injecting $4.5 billion in economic activity in the state.

Typically, cruise lines bring more than half of Alaska's annual visitors, and the visitor industry was on track to becoming Southeast Alaska's largest economic sector in 2020, with an estimated 1.44 million visitors traveling by cruise and spending nearly $800 million in the region, according to “Southeast by the Numbers 2019,” an economic survey of the region prepared by Rain Coast Data.

This year, nine large cruise ships will be operating 78 sailings at reduced capacity with a gradual ramp up through October, according to CLIA Alaska. Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Silversea Cruises are all sailing this summer, in addition to the small cruise ship companies.

“We’re seeing an increase in independent travelers already this summer and that’s excellent news for a lot of businesses, however we know large cruise ship travelers are also an important part to our tourism recovery,” Leonard said.

PanPorts.no is a common platform for local infection prevention measures for Norwegian cruise ports

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 10 July 2021 10 July 2021

With an increased share of the population vaccinated, and a steady drop in number of infections, Norway should not be too far away for re-opening for international tourism and cruising.

PanPorts.no is a common platform for local infection prevention measures for Norwegian cruise ports. The system was developed on the initiative by Port of Bergen supported by DNV and in co-operation with Cruise Norway. The corona infection rate is decreasing here in Norway and the Norwegian Government is now opening borders again.

Currently Norway is at step 3 in the reopening plan, and here are the latest news from the Norwegian Government regarding cruises along the Norwegian coast.

Port of Bergen has together with a project group consisting of members of Cruise Norway developed a common platform for local infection prevention measures.

The platform www.PanPorts.no will provide a clear and simple overview of the corona situation in the Norwegian cruise destinations, and the measures in place at local attractions and with activity providers.

In short the structure defines four tiers of contamination scenarios for each port. The tier level describes the current situation at the different cruise destinations and which measures that have to be in place to proceed the operation.
Implemented measures will also be described for each of the local sites.

Most Norwegian ports, destinations and attractions are represented at PanPorts.no and the goal is to make this an effective tool for cruise lines and shore ex agents when planning itineraries to Norway.

The PanPorts.no is an easy accessible platform which destinations, ports and agents may link to, and we plan to update the content at www.PanPorts.no as long as the corona situation in Norway requires adjusted measures.

The Port of Barcelona resumes cruise activity in a safe, staggered and sustainable way

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 29 June 2021 29 June 2021

After the stoppage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, June 26 marked the operation of the first cruise ship – the MSC Grandiosa – to arrive in Barcelona.

The Port of Barcelona has worked with shipping companies and other players in the cruise sector to resume activity in a staggered, sustainable, and above all safe way, both for crew and passengers, for the workers of the Port Community and for the citizens of Barcelona.

Cruise companies that operate regularly in the Port of Barcelona will arrive gradually, with MSC Cruises and its MSC Grandiosa kicking off the 2021 season on 26 June. Next to arrive will be TUI's Mein Schiff 2, scheduled for 29 June. Costa Cruceros' Costa Smeralda arrives on 5 July, then AIDA Cruises' AidaPerla on 9 July. Cruise ships of the U.S. companies will only begin to arrive in August. The first will be Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas on 15 August. The arrival of American companies will help to normalise flight connections with the United States from El Prat Airport, which had been stopped by the pandemic.

“As a Port, we are aware of our responsibility to ensure public health. We therefore consider that activity had to resume once the number of infections and vaccination levels in Spain allowed," said Carla Salvadó, Deputy Manager of Commercial and Marketing at the Port of Barcelona. Regarding the expected number of port calls for the season, “we cannot give a figure at this stage because we are still working with the shipping companies to gradually bring in ships. Plus, we have worked to bring the least polluting ships currently sailing to the Port of Barcelona," added the Port manager.

Health guarantees

As regards the health measures implemented by the cruise industry, ports, cruise terminals and shipping companies have been working for months to implement the most stringent of protocols for the safety of passengers, crew and, of course, city dwellers. For the Port of Barcelona and the terminals, “the work done to date means that we can ensure the safety of passengers, crews, port workers and citizens from a health point of view, but we can also guarantee that, in spite of the new protocols, ship operations will be nimble and the infrastructures and services will work perfectly," added Carla Salvadó.

The protocol to be followed by the Port of Barcelona has been agreed by Foreign Health, which answers to the Spanish Ministry of Health. In addition to basic hygiene measures, such as wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer or maintaining social distancing, cruise companies are required to report on their health plan as approved by the flag state, and to ensure implementation. This includes specific information about the medical resources available on the ship and diagnostic capacity on board as well as information on the cruise company’s procedures prior to boarding passengers, among other data.

Shipping companies are also required to have insurance for passengers and crew to cover all accommodation, maintenance and medical care costs for asymptomatic patients not requiring hospitalisation. This is also the case for close contacts who have to quarantine, and hospital admissions for positive cases, where necessary. This cover includes all transport needs, including air medical transfers and repatriation if necessary, and guarantees to keep the public health system from being overloaded, in the words of Fernando Pacheco, General Manager of MSC Cruises in Spain, who also pointed out that the MSC Grandiosa “is one of the most modern and environmentally advanced ships in our fleet.” Pacheco explained that the MSC Seashore is scheduled to leave the shipyards at the end of next July and that this ship, the most technologically advanced of the shipping company, will be positioned in Barcelona to travel around the Mediterranean at the beginning of August.

Terminals also have their own health measures for passengers as well as protocols for disinfecting luggage and facilities once each operation has been completed. Ventilation, disinfection and proper distribution of passenger flows will be key to the process.

Port improvements

While cruise activity was stopped for months, the Port of Barcelona never stopped working, taking the opportunity to perform improvement works in the area of the Adossat wharf for this traffic segment. It invested €2.6 million in improving the mooring system at cruise terminals to increase the safety of berthing operations. Work was also done to improve accessibility to the area, enlarging Gate 2 to the Adossat Wharf, doubling accesses or checkpoint controls and relocating and refurbishing the roundabout to distribute traffic to all cruise terminals. These works meant an investment of €1.22 million.

Furthermore, between February 2020 and April 2021 the consolidation of Phase III was completed as part of the complex long-term action to enlarge the Adossat wharf. This works project will enable construction of the new cruise terminal awarded to MSC during the latest Port Board of Directors meeting. The investment in this case was €2.6 million.

The cruise ships that will arrive this year will provide a considerable boost to the recovery of a sector that was plunged into a serious crisis by the Covid-19 pandemic. The cruise industry employs more than 9,000 people in Barcelona and has an annual turnover of €1.083 billion in Catalonia, contributing €562 million to Catalan GDP each year.

In 2019, cruise passengers accounted for 10.4% of tourists who spent the night in Barcelona. They also made a greater-than-average contribution to the area's economy. The average expenditure of visitors who spent the night in 2019 in this destination was €69.90 per day. It is estimated that cruise passengers in turnaround spend some €230 per day. Cruise passengers in transit, who spend an average of four hours at the destination, typically spend €57 each. In 2019, 57% of cruise passengers passing through the Port of Barcelona were in turnaround.

Jamaica projects full return of cruise industry by October 2021

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 04 July 2021 04 July 2021

Jamaica Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett says based on current projections he expects the full return of the cruise industry in Jamaica between August and October of this year. This he notes is dependent on Covid-19 management and an increased percentage of vaccinated persons across the island.

The Minister made the declaration during JMMB’s “Thought Leadership Webinar: recently, where he was the keynote speaker.

“Our cruise partners are now champing at the bit to come back into Caribbean waters. However, the extent of our own preparedness, from a Covid-19 management point of view, will determine how fast they actually come in. Vaccination is of course the big elephant in the room and for most of us in the region, we are at very low vaccination levels. We need to build that out and to put ourselves in a position to see highly vaccinated people and for them to move around seamlessly,” expressed Bartlett.

The Minister was adamant that based on current forecasts, the island will not see the full return of cruise until late August to October of 2021.

“I think that August to October in that three-month window will be when you will see a full resumption of cruise. We may see one or two smaller vessels coming in, perhaps in August. However, my take on the matter is October seems to me the outer month for us to see cruise coming back to the region. If we don’t get it back in that time, we are going to be in trouble,” said the Minister.

The Ministry of Tourism has been actively working for the return of cruise this summer, utilizing a collaborative approach that will bring greater value for passengers, cruise lines and Destination Jamaica.

Several areas have been examined in discussions with the island’s cruise partners, including more meaningful linkages, homeporting, multiple calls, increased jobs, increased value to local brands and improving the passenger experience, which should translate into higher spend per passenger.

Hanseatic Inspiration launches 2021 calls at Wismar

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 24 June 2021 24 June 2021

The Hanseatic city of Wismar and the Columbus Cruise Center Wismar in Germany welcomed Hanseatic Inspiration of Hapag Lloyd Cruises for the first transit call of a cruise ship on the German coast on 23 June, the port said in a statement.

With this call at the cruise berth in the World Heritage City of Wismar the season was finally resumed after a long break due to the covid-19 pandemic

Harry Glawe, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Minister of Economy, and the Senator for Economic Affairs of the Hanseatic city of Wismar, Michael Berkhahn, inaugurated the new terminal building for cruise passengers just two days earlier.

The event marked the end of the cruise berth’s major refurbishment: The flooring in the area of the berth has been prepared for handling provisions and luggage. Furthermore, a UNESCO World Heritage compliant ISPS fence, a grey water station for the discharge of dirty water and a Dalbensteg were built to improve safe mooring of the vessels.

As a last measure, a terminal building was constructed and handed over to the authorities (Federal Police and Customs) for usage. All in all the investment volume amounted to approximately €8 million.

The cruise ship berth with its new terminal building, which is located within walking distance to the old town of the UNESCO World Heritage site, is part of the tourist centre of the Old Port in Wismar.

The passengers of Hanseatic Inspiration were offered guided walks into the city centre as well as excursions to Schwerin Castle and the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Rostock. A bus journey from Wismar to Berlin takes about 2.5 hours.

Wismar’s traditional fusiliers bid farewell to the ship and passengers in the evening with several salute shots, the port said.