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Columbus Cruise Center in Bremerhaven enjoys strong start of year

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 08 August 2016 08 August 2016

Columbus Cruise Center in Bremerhaven (CCCB), at the mouth of the River Weser in Germany, says it has enjoyed a strong start of the year in terms of passenger volume increase and it forecasts the positive development to continue.

“For 2016, CCCB has already recorded an increase in passenger numbers of at least 35%. This figure will grow again considerably in 2017 und 2018,” the cruise terminal operator said in a statement.

On 31 July, all four ships of Phoenix Seereisen, the Bonn based cruise operator, docked at the CCCB terminal. “On this day alone, a total of 6,400 passengers used the Bremerhaven terminal for arrival or departure. About 450 tonnes of provisions were taken on board and about 10,000 suitcases handled,” the terminal operator said.

“In this respect, Bremerhaven is different from other ports in that all four vessels can berth at one quay and be processed by one terminal. Thanks to improvements implemented in the winter months, it has been possible to shorten the distance needed to be covered in the luggage-handling process. Services provided for crew and passengers have also been further enhanced,” CCCB concluded.

Theatrical welcome to Carnival Vista in Piraeus

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 25 July 2016 25 July 2016

Carnival Vista, the latest unit of Carnival Cruise Line, received a theatrical welcome in Piraeus, where the port authority had teamed up with local theatrical groups to provide a different kind of welcome to the passengers and crew of the ship, Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) said in a statement.

“An ‘alternative welcome,’ pleasant surprise awaited 5000 passengers and 1600 crew members of the cruise ship Carnival Vista. This time the PPA Management held a cultural event with a performance from the Piraeus Municipal Theatre and traditional dances from the Keratsini cultural club dance team, called Thymaidai,” PPA said in a statement.

The PPA launched its cooperation with the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus with the show "Sea on the edge, Greece - Climbing the sea" directed by N. Diamantis, a composition of texts from ancient tragedies and poems on a journey where the ancient Greek theater meets poetry and the Greek traditional folk music.

Then took the baton the dance team Thymaidai with representative traditional dances rousing the tourists, who also tasted features Greek products (graviera cheese, crackers, olives, feta cheese and raki). The performances will be repeated in other arrivals in the tourist season of 2016.

It is known that benefits from the increase of cruise diffuse both local communities and the national economy, especially when they come from cruise itineraries using Greek ports as ports of departure (homeporting).

Several cruise lines, such as Celestyal Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, are using the port of Piraeus for turnaround.

The cooperation with Carnival Cruise Lines will contribute to further development of homeporting, since the new ship of Carnival Vista 336 meters long with capacity of 5,300 passengers, is expected to transfer a total of more than 50,000 passengers during the summer of 2016 from and to Piraeus.

This has already reflected in the provisional figures of the first half of the current year with an increase of 14% in homeporting compared with 2015.

“PPA, in order to achieve smooth ship and passenger service has implemented a series of measures and now it serves in the best and safest way over 10,000 passengers in every turnaround, in covered areas of 7,500 square meters,” PPA said.

Crystal Cruises moves to Port Everglades in 2017

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 25 June 2016 25 June 2016

Broward County's Port Everglades welcomes the return of Crystal Cruises' ships beginning in October 2017.

"Fort Lauderdale is an ideal fit for our ships, itineraries and discerning guests, with its close proximity to an international airport and reputation for outstanding service that mirrors Crystal's own," said Crystal President and CEO Edie Rodriguez. "With these things in mind, we are relocating select fall sailings and look forward to working with Port Everglades to expand our itineraries in this market."

Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony will sail a total of eight sailings to and from Port Everglades beginning October 27, 2017.

"We are already working with Crystal Cruises' outstanding team to ensure every sailing from Port Everglades is exceptional," said Port Everglades Chief Executive & Port Director Steven Cernak. Crystal Cruises last sailed from Port Everglades in 2006.

Port Everglades pilots two passport control programs

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 22 June 2016 22 June 2016

Broward County's Port Everglades and its cruise line partners, Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International, are working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to launch two pilot programs this summer – Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks and Mobile Passport Control (MPC) – that are designed to expedite secure entry into the United States following a cruise vacation. Port Everglades is the first U.S. cruise port to test these programs, although they are currently available in many U.S. airports and for cruise passenger preclearance in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Both programs are designed to streamline the traveler inspection process and enable CBP officers to focus more on the inspection and less on administrative functions.

"We are working closely with CBP to improve guest service and make the debark process more efficient without compromising safety and security," said Port Everglades Deputy Port Director Glenn Wiltshire. "We have high hopes for both programs, and are evaluating the efficiency, staff time and costs involved during this three-month pilot program."

APC kiosks allow passengers to provide their travel documents and customs declaration forms prior to speaking to a CBP officer.

The MPC program is the first Smartphone app authorized to expedite a traveler's entry process into the United States. This first-of-its-kind app was developed by Airside Mobile and Airports Council International-North America in partnerships with CBP. The app allows U.S. citizens debarking a cruise ship to complete their Customs declaration using their phones, expediting their clearance process in the terminal.

"We are very fortunate to be able to partner with Port Everglades in innovative projects that will enhance the arriving passengers' experience. These important business transformation initiatives are part of CBP's greater resource optimization strategy and will help to support the increased passenger traffic growth that we continue to see in South Florida," said CBP Port Director Jorge Roig.

In addition, CBP's Global Entry program, which gives preferential processing to those guests who are Global Entry card holders, has been available at Port Everglades since summer 2015.

Located in the second largest county in Florida, Broward County's Port Everglades is consistently ranked as one of the three busiest cruise ports in the world with more than 3.7 million passengers in 2015. Nine cruise lines, one ferry and more than 40 cruise ships sail from the South Florida seaport including: Balearia's Bahamas Express (ferry), Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn and Silversea Cruises. The Port's wide-ranging fleet of cruise ships provides guests with an array of cruise vacation choices from the sunny Greater Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Dania Beach area.