This year’s first luxury passenger ship arrived at the Port of Gdansk on 22 April. She is the Le Bellot vessel sailing under the French flag. She is 131.4 m long and 18 m wide. It can take 184 passengers on board. The ship moored at the Obrońców Westerplatte Quay to the ‘Begama’ Youth Brass Band sounds. Passengers boarded in Copenhagen. They will finish the cruise in Stockholm.
Le Bellot is a relatively young ship that went into service in 2020. She features 92 cabins and suites with spacious balconies. The ship also features Le Nautilus restaurant, theatre, dance hall, library, shop, sun deck with outdoor pool and bar, spa and fitness centre with massage rooms and Finnish sauna, observation lodge, art gallery, and kids’ club.
Le Commandant Charcot to star
Last year’s season for visits by foreign guests cruising Europe and the world on luxury ships was very successful. From May to September, cruise ships called at the Port of Gdansk 79 times. On their decks, 29.5 thousand passengers travelled. The largest ship was the 239-metre-long cruise ship Marina.
And what will this season be like? It promises to be a very good – cruisers will visit the Port of Gdańsk as many as 62 times. The longest ship to enter the port will be Crystal Symphony, sailing under the Bahamian flag. She is 238 metres long. It will dock at the Oliwa Quay on 5 August. The largest ship in terms of passengers will be the Balmoral – she can take 1390 guests on board. She will arrive in Gdansk twice – on 18 July and 11 September.
The end of the season is planned just before Christmas. In winter, on 15 December, the Port of Gdansk will host Le Commandant Charcot, a 150-metre-long vessel flying the French flag. It is a so-called expedition cruise ship, i.e., prepared to visit Arctic regions.
Tempting tourist offer
The Port of Gdansk can theoretically accommodate up to 120 cruise ships annually. So, how do you attract cruise ship operators to Gdansk?
– The development of cruise shipping is influenced by many factors, including the geopolitical situation in the region, but also the involvement of local authorities and tourism organisations. Cruise ship operators need to be convinced that the Baltic Sea basin is a safe region. In addition, we need to be active in organisations such as Cruise Baltic or Cruise Europe and present the trade offer at various international industry events. Last week we returned from the Seatrade Cruise Global trade fair. First held in New York in 1985, it moved to Miami, the cruise capital of the world, in 1992. We have been a regular at the fair for the past seven years. This year we exhibited jointly with ports such as: Helsinki, Kotka, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Tallinn and Stockholm – under the banner of the Cruise Europe organisation. Together with the Baltic Gateway Group, the largest tour operator operating cruise ships in the Port of Gdansk, we presented our commercial offer, as well as the most interesting tourist attractions of the port city and region. And we have a lot to boast about – explains Michał Stupak, client manager at the Port of Gdańsk.
Source: PortalMorski.pl
