The ship, belonging to Royal Caribbean, has made a total of 121 calls in Vigo since its inaugural visit in 2008, bringing more than 640,000 people, including passengers and crew.
The Vigo terminal will welcome other ocean giants in 2015, such as the Anthem of the Seas, the Britannia, the Queen Mary II, and the Norwegian Epic.
The Port of Vigo will receive more than 5,000 people throughout today, including passengers and crew, on the occasion of the last stop of the Independence of the Seas at the Vigo terminal.
The second largest cruise ship in the world, after the Oasis of the Seas, thus makes its 121st stop in the Port of Vigo, since its inaugural visit to the Vigo dock, which took place in May 2008, which represents more than 640,000 people, including passengers and crew.
As for this year, the ship, belonging to the Royal Caribbean International shipping company, made a total of 11 stops throughout 2014, bringing more than 55,000 people on board.
The main nationality of the passengers received throughout all these stops has been, for the most part, British, with nearly 90% of passengers coming from this country or, in other words, followed very far behind by Americans, who barely represent 5% of the total passengers on this ship.
The most repeated route of this colossus of the sea, with a stop in Vigo, has been Southampton, Vigo, Lisbon, Lanzarote, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Funchal and Coruña, to end this journey, again, in Southampton.
More than 5,000 visitors in a single day
On its stop today, the Independence of the Seas will bring on board a total of 3,953 passengers of 36 different nationalities (3,313 British), in addition to 1,355 crew members. It arrived at 9:30 a.m. from Southampton, Great Britain, and is scheduled to depart at 5:00 p.m., at which time it will set sail for Lisbon, Portugal.
After the Oasis of the Seas and its twin, the Allure of the Seas, the Independence of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world, along with its siblings, the Freedom of the Seas and the Liberty of the Seas.
It has 1,817 cabins available (21 of them for passengers with reduced mobility). In addition, it features a shopping street on board, an ice rink, a giant theater, themed swimming pools, a climbing wall, mini-golf, a 1950s-style burger joint, and more. It also includes a surf pool, a barbershop, and a range of other facilities that are sure to impress.
Other “giants” in 2015
The departure of the Independence of the Seas, which will return to the Caribbean next November, opens the door for the arrival in 2015 of other giants of the sea, such as another Royal Caribbean ship, the Anthem of the Seas. With its ten scheduled calls in Vigo next year, it will replace the now familiar Independence of the Seas. Slightly larger than the Independence of the Seas and with a maximum capacity of up to 4,900 passengers, the Anthem of the Seas will inaugurate (along with the Quantum of the Seas) Royal Caribbean's new Quantum class, superior in tonnage and capacity to the Freedom class of the Independence of the Seas, and just below the Oasis class, the class of the world's largest cruise ships.
But as if that weren't enough, 2015 will mark the return to the Port of Vigo of the bulk of P&O's Atlantic fleet, with at least 30 planned calls in our city and more than 83,000 passengers. Thus, in 2015, the Port of Vigo will welcome P&O's new flagship cruise ship, the Britannia, on up to five occasions. With a capacity for more than 3,600 passengers, it measures 330 meters in length—only 2 meters less than the Oasis of the Seas, at 362 meters—and will enter service in 2015. Its first stop in our city will be part of its inaugural route.
Other giants that will also accompany us throughout the next year will be the emblematic Queen Mary II, or the return of the Norwegian Cruise Line company to Vigo after several years, with the Norwegian Epic, and its more than 4,000 passengers.
International positioning
The strategic position of the Port of Vigo as an international benchmark, capable of receiving the world's largest cruise ship, the Oasis of the Seas, on its first visit to Europe on two occasions, has marked a turning point for the terminal chaired by López-Chaves, which, in 2015, will continue the trend of recent years of positioning large ships in Vigo.
This trend is due, among other things, to the significant commitment to safety made by the Port Authority and the Cruise Terminal itself, a vital aspect for cruise companies, in addition to the reliability and tranquility offered by the sheltered waters of the Vigo Estuary, which ensure operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Furthermore, these port calls clearly demonstrate the intensive work that the Vigo Port Authority has carried out in recent months through numerous meetings with decision-makers from the main cruise lines, as well as the presence of the institution, chaired by Ignacio López-Chaves, at various industry trade fairs. This significant commercial effort undertaken by the Port of Vigo has highlighted the cruise traffic incentives that the Port Authority has approved, recognizing the importance of maritime tourism to the city of Vigo. Other key factors for the various cruise lines have also been the improvements made to cruise infrastructure in recent years, in addition to the quality and efficiency of the service consistently provided by the modern and fully equipped cruise terminal.
