The visit of AIDAprima at Port Kiel on Saturday, October 12, marked the conclusion of the ocean-going cruise season 2019. The port has been visited on 174 separate occasions by 32 different cruise liners with a total tonnage of 15 million GT.
For the first time ever and exceeding the expectations of the port, about 800,000 cruisers embarked or left a ship at Kiel's terminals. The crews, cruise, and ferry passengers generated total consumer spending of more than EUR 75 million in Kiel and the region.
The new construction of the second terminal building and the festivities marking the Anniversary of German Unification required the temporary adaption of handling processes at northern Ostseekai berth. Furthermore, the expanded cruise ship terminal in the Ostuferhafen area that had been inaugurated last April proved very successful to increase the flexibility and capacity of the port.
At the beginning of 2019, the latest newbuild of TUI Cruises, Mein Schiff 2, was showcased at Ostseekai. The largest ship of the season, MSC Meraviglia, first showed herself on the fjord at the end of April 2019.
The most frequent guests were AIDA Cruises ships with an inaugural visit by AIDAprima. MS Nieuw Statendam, Marella Explorer, and CMV Vasco da Gama visited the port of Kiel for the first time.
In 2020, there will not only be a second terminal building but also Germany's most powerful on-shore power supply plant to be commissioned at Ostseekai Terminal.