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The Hamburg cruise port has become the first in Germany to reach 500,000 passenger visits in one season, following Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 (QM2) call, on 6 November.
“The visit by the QM2 to Hamburg will go down in the annals of Hamburg’s cruise industry and become an unforgettable visit for everyone concerned,” said Frank Horch, senator of the Ministry for Economic, Transport and Innovation Affairs. “For the first time ever, Hamburg has achieved this magical mark in a single season and has done so two years earlier than planned.”
In another first for the port, the 2013 Hamburg cruise season has been extended to 31 December, with 550,000 guests expected by the end of year.
“This year the cruise season, which has been Hamburg’s most successful ever, will again be ending in December,” said Hamburg Cruise Center (HCC) board chairman Dr Stefan Behn. “Two cruise liners with around 3,000 mostly British passengers will be calling at Hamburg in the run up to Christmas. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has two ships scheduled to visit Hamburg in December – Balmoral will be in the city on 18 December, while her sister ship, Boudicca, will be tying up in the HafenCity for New Year’s Eve. In addition, Saga Cruises will be calling and AIDAsol – Hamburg’s most frequent visitor in 2013 – has six visits scheduled.”
Around 191 cruise ships carrying a total of around 600,000 passengers scheduled to visit the Hamburg port.