By
Rebecca Gibson |
Seven cruise ships helped Hamburg Cruise Center to celebrate the fourth Hamburg Cruise Days event from 1-3 August.
Hamburg Cruise Days, which has been held once every two years since it was launched in 2008, took place on a 4km stretch along the Elbe river and in the city’s harbour, which was illuminated by an installation created by artist Michael Batz.
Around 18,000 passengers passed through the port during the three-day event, arriving on AIDA Cruises’ AIDAluna and AIDAstella, Peter Dielmann’s Deutschland, Passat Cruises’ Delphin, Hapag-Lloyd’s Europe, MSC Cruise’s MSC Magnifica and the Gann. Four of the ships took part in a parade on the Elbe accompanied by their own individual fireworks displays.
In addition, more than 600,000 people visited the 12 cruise-themed islands situated between HafenCity and Altona to enjoy sporting, entertainment and cultural offerings.
“With Hamburg Cruise Days and similar events like cruise ships christening we are bringing cruising home,” said Gerd Drossel, managing director of Hamburg Cruise Center. “Such events offer a perfect platform for cruise lines to showcase their products and highlight the cruising theme, subsequently delivering a win-win situation for all those involved. Many tourists come from all across Germany and spend their weekend in the Hanseatic city. In this respect Hamburg is the ideal stage for the cruise ships and cruise lovers providing the backdrop for images that go all around the world.”
Hamburg is set to handle a total of 190 cruise calls in 2014, including 43 in August, making it the busiest month of the year. On 10 August, the port welcomed the first of five turnaround calls when Royal Caribbean International’s Legend of the Seas arrives at the port.