184 ships called at the cruise port of Warnemünde and twelve at the overseas port
On 17 October at about 8 o’clock the cruise vessel AIDAaura tied up at berth P7 in Warnemünde to conclude this year’s main cruise season. A further arrival of a cruise vessel in Warnemünde and the last one planned for this year will be that of the cruise liner Balmoral of the British Fred Olsen Cruise Lines on 4 December.
In all, 906,000 cruise travellers will then have embarked and disembarked during 196 port calls by 40 cruise liners this year. "Warnemünde remains the most popular German port for international cruise travellers. The passenger port at the mouth of river Warnow is also a major starting point as well as destination for German-speaking cruise tourists. Thanks to the residents of Warnemünde and all businesses and authorities involved in cruise shipping this year’s cruise season passed successfully and without a hitch. We all look forward expectantly to the trial operation of the shore-based electricity supply facility, the opening of the second passenger terminal and the commissioning of the converted railway station in Warnemünde, which are all planned for next year”, says Jens A. Scharner, Managing Director of ROSTOCK PORT GmbH.
Of the 196 port calls this year, 184 were serviced in Warnemünde and twelve at the overseas port. The largest vessel this season was the Norwegian Breakaway with a gross tonnage of 145,655 and a capacity of approx. 4,800 passengers. 92 port calls by cruise vessels involved a full or partial turn araound of passengers. Rostock-based shipping company AIDA Cruises, for instance, for the first time sent three ships on 45 cruises around the Baltic Sea from the base port Warnemünde: AIDAaura, AIDAdiva and AIDAmar. On 4 October there was a surprise visit by AIDAprima. This year, 22 international shipping companies included the Baltic Sea port on river Warnow in their route planning.
Among the highlights of this season were the eight cruise liners calling in Warnemünde for the first time: Nieuw Statendam of Holland America Line, Viking Jupiter of Viking Cruise Line, Norwegian Pearl of Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Reflection of Celebrity Cruises, Silver Spirit of Silver Sea Cruises, Seabourn Ovation of Seabourn Cruise Line and AIDAprima of AIDA Cruises.
International visitors discover Rostock and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
This year the majority of cruise travellers were again Germans at 137,000 passengers, followed by 98,000 US citizens, 44,000 British, 23,000 Spaniards, 22,000 Canadians, 20,000 Italians, 12,000 Australians and 97,000 tourists from 149 other nations.
Around 86,000 international guests went on a day trip to Berlin by rail, bus or car. About 186,000 passengers from around the world set out to discover Warnemünde, Rostock or Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on day trips and 181,000 cruise passengers started or ended their cruise in the passenger port at the mouth of river Warnow.
27 cruise liners availed themselves of the opportunity to discharge ships’ waste water directly into the public sewer system during 108 port calls this year. In total 25,400 cubic meters of ships’ waste water were disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.
As of May this year the Seafarers‘ Lounge of the Seamen’s Mission for the first time opened its doors continuously for the crew members of cruise liners in Warnemünde. The lounge is situated close to the cruise terminal and was visited by more than 1,000 crew members from all over the world in the course of this season.