Blog
8th March 2019
Celebrating our 20th Cruise Anniversary at Seatrade Cruise Global
Commercial Manager, Andy Foster, shares some exciting news on what marks the year of the Port's 20th Anniversary
This year marks 20 years since the Port welcomed its first cruise call, Cunard’s Royal Viking Sun on 30 August 1999. Since that day, the Port has welcomed over 450 calls, from 60 cruise lines and over 700,000 cruise passengers!
Today, as one of the major cruise Ports in the UK, we are the third largest port for turnaround calls and the closest UK port to the Baltics, offering great connectivity to Norway and the Fjords, Iceland, Russia and plenty of other countries. In fact, we’re the only UK port from which you can sail to Norway in under 24 hours leaving plenty of time for holidaymakers to enjoy the captivating sights and scenery!
The Port is set to welcome 59 cruise calls in 2019, which will be our record year for the fourth year in a row!
A lot has changed in the last 20 years as the cruise business continues to innovate and grow - and the Port is planning further investment in widening its main deep water cruise berth at Northumbrian Quay. This will potentially more than double the quay width making it more accessible for coach transfers and baggage handling, ensuring that we continue to provide top-notch facilities for cruise lines and their passengers brought by the ever-growing vessels.
I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at Seatrade Cruise Global (9-11th April 2019), Cruise Britain Stand 931. Please contact me if you would like to arrange a catch up.