Hamburg Announces Major Cruise Industry Highlights and Developments at Cruise Shipping Miami

HAMBURG, Germany, March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Hamburg, Germany is rapidly gaining importance as a major Northern European cruise destination. The opening of a new cruise-terminal, the "Hamburg Cruise Week" and numerous cruise-themed events and celebrations in 2015 will be announced in the next days at Cruise Shipping Miami, the world's largest cruise industry fair. With 590,000 passengers and 189 arrivals last year, Hamburg has confirmed its place as a major European cruise capital.

First "Hamburg Cruise Week" kicks off in September 2015: the popular "Hamburg Cruise Days" festival and Seatrade Europe, the continent's leading cruise industry convention, will join forces during the first "Hamburg Cruise Week". Bringing together passengers, visitors, service providers and cruise industry stakeholders, the event will set the stage for a plethora of cruise-themed activities and events. Throughout the week, a spectacular light installation "Blue Port" will bathe the port in magical blue light. September 4-13, 2015 (more: http://www.hamburgcruisedays.de, http://www.seatrade-europe.com).

To meet the cruise industry's growing demand for more passenger handling capacity, Hamburg will open its third cruise-terminal in June 2015. The "Hamburg Cruise-Center Steinwerder" is designed to handle up to 8,000 passengers. Other cruise-terminals are in operation at HafenCity Hamburg and Altona (http://www.hamburg-port-authority.de).  

With almost 600,000 passenger arrivals in 2014, Hamburg has surpassed the ports of Rostock and Kiel and now firmly holds the number one spot as Germany's top cruise destination. Further, high-profile maritime events such as the Hamburg Cruise Days and Harbor Birthday have contributed to the city's reputation as an attractive cruise-destination. International cruise lines are taking notice: besides established Germany cruise lines, more and more international brands are discovering Hamburg. For the first time Norwegian Cruise Line will send this year the new "Norwegian Escape". With berths for 4,200 passengers, the ship will be the biggest cruise ship to ever visit the port of Hamburg. Throughout the summer, MSC Cruises will be positioning its "Splendida" cruise ship for Northern European cruises. Italian cruise operator Costa will offer ten departures on three routes, and the traditional British shipping company Cunard Line will continue voyages with its popular "Queen Mary 2" from Hamburg to New York. In 2015, AIDA Cruises will once again have the greatest presence of all cruise lines in Hamburg: five AIDA cruise ships will be calling at the port of Hamburg 55 times (http://www.hamburgcruisecenter.eu).  

MediaContact:  
Guido Neumann
Hamburg Marketing GmbH
Media-Relations
p +49-40-30051580
[email protected]
 

SOURCE Hamburg Marketing GmbH