Operations have begun at the renovated Ilocos Cruise Port close to the northern tip of Luzon, the Philippines' largest island. Over the holidays, the largest cruise ship operating in Asia - Spectrum of the Seas - made her maiden call here as part of a 7-day Japan-Philippines-Hong Kong sailing. Spectrum of the Seas will make a number of return calls at the port in 2020.
According to Guillaume Lucci, senior advisor for operator Bloomberry Cruise Terminals, that was "the first call to the first dedicated cruise facility in the Philippines."
The largest privately-owned residential ship MS The World made her maiden call at Ilocos Cruise Port earlier last week before leaving to Hong Kong. The upgraded cruise terminal will be formally inaugurated later in January.
The Ilocos cruise ship terminal is one of a couple of projects operated by Bloombery Cruise Terminals, which is a division of Philippine resorts operator Bloomberry.
Bloomberry is also building a new USD 300 million cruise terminal and resort complex in Manila (Luzon Island, Philippines), dubbed the Solaire Cruise Center. The company announced it would be the first integrated resort in the world with its own attached cruise port.
The adjacent Solaire Resort & Casino is an existing 5-star resort/shopping/casino complex in the capital's "Entertainment City" - the regional equivalent to Las Vegas.