The 144-meter Hamburg cruise ship with 330 tourists on board was the first ship of this type to visit the Port of Gdańsk this year. Thus, the cruise season in the port has officially opened.

When on Thursday, April 20, around noon, Hamburg entered the Port of Gdansk, then rotated and finally moored at the Westerplatte quay, an orchestra was waiting for tourists and the crew on the shore. The visit of Hamburg inaugurated this year's season of cruise ship calls in Gdańsk. When the ship arrived at the quay, the necessary procedures were carried out, and the passengers were preparing to disembark, representatives of the Port of Gdańsk Authority SA and the ship's agent, Baltic Gateway, boarded the vessel to thank the captain and present him with a commemorative statuette.

Season opening

Hamburg became the first cruise ship to call at the Port of Gdańsk in 2023. After the record-breaking previous year, the current season is expected to bring fewer visits by cruise ships, which is mainly due to geopolitical factors.

– We have 46 vessels planned for this season. Last year was record-breaking, because as many as 79 cruise ships called at us and it was almost 30,000 passengers. This year it will be a little less, but in fact the notification is constantly being updated. The geopolitical situation certainly has an impact on how the cruise market will develop in a given year. The closure of the port in Saint Petersburg and the fact that cruise ships do not enter this port - and this is almost 350 units a year - is a very good opportunity for the port of Gdańsk to accept at least some of these ships. But the shipowners' decision as to whether their ships will call at a given destination is also influenced by the military operations in Ukraine – explains Anna Drozd, spokesperson for the Port of Gdansk Authority.

This year, the cruise ships already announced at the Port of Gdańsk will include the 240-meter Bolette ship, the largest of those announced so far. It will appear in Gdańsk as planned on May 10. In addition, the port will also call, among others, the 218-meter Balmoral, the 226-meter Europa 2, previously seen in Poland, or the luxurious Silver Dawn, also operating in the Mediterranean Sea. The record holder will be the Clio ship, which will come to Gdańsk eight times. The majority of cruise ships will berth at the Westerplatte quay, only the aforementioned Clio and Hebridean Sky calls will take place at the Duty Free Zone quay, and one August arrival of the Azamara Pursuit vessel is planned at the Oliwskie quay.

As Anna Drozd adds, cruises constitute only about 2% of the revenue of the port of Gdańsk itself, but they are nevertheless very important from the tourist perspective.

– It is absolutely very attractive from the point of view of tourist organizations and the city itself, because they mainly benefit from the fact that these vessels call here – says Anna Drozd.

300 passengers for a start

Hamburg is a 144-meter cruise ship built in 1997 with a tonnage of 15,000 tons. It flies the flag of the Bahamas. The ship spent about nine hours in Gdańsk. At that time, some of its passengers went on a sightseeing trip to Gdańsk. The ship then sailed on for the rest of the voyage. However, the vessel will return to the Port of Gdańsk soon, on May 20.

– Hamburg comes from Hamburg, the next port after Gdańsk is Klaipeda, then it goes to Riga, Tallinn. For obvious reasons, it will no longer enter St. Petersburg, so the next ones are Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and return to Hamburg – describes Marek Różański from the Baltic Gateway company, the ship's agent.

Hamburg arrived in Gdańsk with 330 passengers on board, although it can take up to 480.

– Due to the problems with covid two years ago and the war in Ukraine, there are fewer calls by passenger ships and passengers sailing on the Baltic Sea. There are other waters and other places, for example in Norway, in the Mediterranean Sea, not to mention warmer countries like the Caribbean or South America. Most passenger ships sail there – explains Marek Różański.

This year, Baltic Gateway handles both calls from Hamburg to the Port of Gdańsk.

– I think it's quite a nice job. The agent takes care of all the formalities for the border guards and the Customs Office. It is necessary to arrange for the ship a pilot, a tugboat, mooring service. Various types of excursions must be organized for passengers. Mainly it is Gdańsk, but it all depends on the shipowner – describes Różański.

The next cruise ship, and thus the second one to visit the Port of Gdańsk this season, is expected on April 27 in the morning. On that day, at Westerplatte, you will be able to admire the 229-meter Viking Jupiter ship.