The ports of Roses and Palamós expect to have 56 cruise stops and 56,000 passengers this season. That means one 11% more passengers than the previous season even though the number of flights will fall by 11%. This Monday the season started at the port of Palamós with the arrival of the Marella Discovery 2, which has brought 1,900 people. In Roses, the season will start at the end of the month, on Thursday, April 27. The International Cruise Lines Association (CLIA) estimates that each passenger generates 90 euros on average in each destination. This suggests that the cruises could have an economic impact of 5 million euros in the area.
This Monday has arrived first cruise of the season in the port of Palamós. This is the Marella Discovery 2, which arrived at nine in the morning from the French port of Ajaccio. It carries 1,900 passengers, mostly British. The ship is expected to leave at around six in the afternoon for Palma and in between, the cruisers plan to visit Palamós, the medieval towns of Pals and Peratallada and go hiking along the circuit paths. Some will also take the opportunity to visit Tossa de Mar. The ship flies the flag of the Bahamas and has a length of 264 meters, a draft of 32 and a draft of 8. The gross register is 69,472 tons.
The Marella Discovery 2 is the first of the 50 cruise ships that will call at the port of Palamós this season. It is expected that 55,000 passengers will pass there, a 13% increase compared to last year. Even so, the number of vessels that will stop at the port of Baixemporda is 11% lower than in 2022.
The season of this 2023 will last nine months and will end on December 20 with the scale of the Ocean Odyssey. 62% of passengers will arrive in the low season while the remaining 38% will do so during the summer months when there are more visitors. In addition, this 2023 they will be done seven inaugural stairs from Palamós: Marella Voyager, Azamara Onward, Viking Sky, Seabourn Pursuit, Silver Nova, Viking Sea and Ocean Odyssay.
For its part, the port of Roses will start the season on April 27. In this port of the Alt Empordà they will be there 6 stairs with about 6,000 passengers.
The ports of Palamós and Roses receive cruise ships from the North American and European markets. This year, 50% of the cruises that will come belong to the North American market and the remaining 50% to the European market. In addition, this year 9 cruise ships will call at the Costa Brava for the first time