Cruise Season 2023
by Ilka Gerlach
(Kiel, 14th April 2023) This year's cruise season in Kiel opens today with the Balmoral. The capital of Germany's northernmost state is expecting 221 cruise calls in the coming months. With the MSC Euribia, one of the most modern and environmentally friendly cruise ships will start its first season from Kiel.
As an established home port for cruise ships from major shipping companies such as AIDA, TUI Cruises, Costa and MSC, and as one of the largest turnaround ports in the German market, the port of Kiel has also been enjoying growing popularity as a transit port with international shipping companies for several years. With a wide range of attractive excursion destinations in the region, UNESCO natural and cultural monuments and its proximity to Hamburg, the port of Kiel offers a good starting point for day trips in northern Germany. “We are really pleased to be returning to Kiel this month for the first of four calls in 2023. It is a city that holds a rich maritime history, just as we do as a business. Particularly
exciting will be our call in June, timed purposefully to coincide with the famous Kiel Week Regatta,” says Peter Deer, Managing Director at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. In addition to ships from Regent Seven Seas Cruise, Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America Line, the port is also expecting a call from Disney Cruise for the first time in the 2023 season.
As one of Europe's pioneers in the area of shore-side power supply for seagoing vessels, PORT OF KIEL is also setting clear sustainability goals for this season: "Together with the shipping companies, we want to supply one third of the cruise calls with shore-side power this season and thus set a clear example in the industry," says Dirk Claus, Managing Director at PORT OF KIEL. The port is currently investing in a multi-million-euro project to expand the shore power infrastructure and will be able to offer shore power at all major cruise terminals from autumn 2023. This will give the port one of the most extensive shore power infrastructures in Europe. ###