21.12.2023
Hamburg, 21 December 2023 – Hamburg’s cruise industry closes the 2023 season with a special highlight: Two calls in a row by a fully booked AIDAnova make for an impressive passenger turnaround. The Christmas holiday voyages on December 22 and December 29 set a new record of passenger turnaround per day at Hamburg’s cruise terminals operated by Cruise Gate Hamburg (CGH). In addition to the thousands of guests disembarking and embarking the ship on these days, staff will unload and load some 8,800 suitcases and accept 16 truckloads of food and drinks per each voyage.
Simone Maraschi, Managing Director of CGH, "Ending this eventful cruise season with such a highlight is noteworthy on two counts. On one hand, it shows just how attractive and sought-after cruise trips departing from Hamburg are, even in winter. On the other hand, the logistics achievements of the employees are outstanding. Our well-practised processes at the terminal and the excellent co-operation of all parties involved make it possible to ensure efficient luggage services and smooth provisioning operations even on extremely busy turnaround days such as these. We want our guests to have the very best experience here, and we will do our utmost to make sure that they can set off on their Christmas holiday cruise carefree and relaxed.”
Felix Eichhorn, President of AIDA Cruises, “We are delighted to see so many guests wanting to spend Christmas and the New Year with us. Since 2016 when we launched our AIDAprima we, in conjunction with the city and CGH, the terminal operator, have been putting a lot of effort into making Hamburg a year-round destination. Roughly half of all cruise ships calling at Hamburg are AIDA ships, and we offer a wide range of cruise options from the Hanseatic city throughout the year. At the same time, we are one of the key drivers of tourism in the city; more than every second cruise passenger is an AIDA guest.”
Hamburg has been AIDAnova’s home port for the winter season since 11 November 2023, a first for the ship. Up until 4 May 2024 she will sail 26 times to major west European cities as well as Norway and Denmark on an alternate weekly schedule. The ship is powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and has the required equipment to run on shore power while docking at Cruise Center Steinwerder. Apart from Altona, the terminal in Steinwerder is Hamburg’s second cruise centre with shoreside power infrastructure. Cruise Center HafenCity, which is currently under construction, will also sport a shore power facility. As ships can use shore power while at the berth in the Port of Hamburg, their emissions will be cut to almost zero.
The 2023 cruise season in Hamburg started on January 1st; the last ships will be turned around on December 31st. Hamburg is a year-round destination that offers season-independent cruise trips to attractive places.
At the moment 268 calls are scheduled for the 2024 season, of which nine cruise ships will sail to Hamburg on their maiden voyages, among them the Azamara Onward, COSTA Favolosa, Mein Schiff 7, Ocean Albatros, Queen Anne, Seabourn Quest, Sirena and Sky Princess – as well as one ship from Disney Cruise Line whose Disney Dream is scheduled to call at Hamburg for the first time on 3 September 2024.
The cruise schedule 2024 is available at: www.cruisegate-hamburg.de/en/expected-vessels/
