2024-04-29 10:38:35
In the port city, even snow and rain did not prevent the opening of the cruise ship season – a French-owned liner docked at Klaipėda quays for the first time.
In total, this year, 30 percent more cruises than last year will come to the seaside.
“Klaipėda is more like winter, but every cruise ship is like a bird, it flies back and shows that summer is coming,” said Algis Latakas, head of Klaipėda State Seaport Directorate.
Almost one and a half hundred tourists arrived on the 130-meter-long ship built in 2020, most of them from France.
“I know a few facts about Klaipėda: it is a Lithuanian city, it was a fishing town. I know you have Witch Hill – I’m not sure what that means, but I’ll visit it,” said one tourist visiting the port city.
“We want to see the Winter Garden in Kretinga and have a little look around the city,” another revealed what he plans to do.
The price of a 7-day cruise on a luxury ship is from 6 to 14 thousand euros. “The ship is exceptional, super-luxury class with 92 cabins,” Romena Savickienė, director of the Klaipėda Tourism and Information Center, told journalists.
A total of 53 cruise liners are expected to visit the port of Klaipėda this season – a third more than last year.
“We will have 10 brand new ships and we expect about 65 thousand. – 70 thousand tourists should come”, R. Savickienė revealed the expectations of the upcoming tourism season.
It is estimated that about 60 percent the incoming cruise liners will be large – more than two hundred meters long.
“The next big ship will arrive on May 6, MSC Poezija. It was introduced last year, has a capacity of over 2,500 passengers and there will be quite a few such ships. The largest ship, out of 53 ships that will visit Klaipėda in 2024, will be 296 meters – even bigger. These are the kind of ships that sail”, said A. Latakas.
According to the representatives of the tourism sector, last year travelers who were afraid of the war in the neighborhood have become braver this year and are again choosing the Baltic Sea quiz for their vacation.
“Cruise lines reported that Baltic Sea cruises are very well sold out this year, cruise lines are predicting a record year, so we hope that all the ships that are registered will arrive full,” R. Savickienė hoped.
According to the head of the port directorate, liners coming to Klaipėda in a few years will moor at the new berths for cruise ships.
“Now we are in the design stage, we hope to get a construction permit, select a contractor this year and “bury the first shovel”, – said the head of the Klaipėda State Seaport Directorate about the upcoming changes.
The cruise ship season in Klaipėda should end on October 1 this year.
63 cruise ships are already planning to bring tourists to the port city next year.
2024-04-29 10:38:35