The Costa Fortuna held a reception on board to mark its first port of call in A Coruña.
Since January, it has made 35 calls and served 45,000 passengers, and expects to reach 96 port calls and 130,000 passengers by the end of the year.
The Port of A Coruña welcomed a new double call, comprised of the cruise ships Costa Fortuna and Oriana, carrying over 7,000 passengers. The Costa Fortuna, making its first call in the city, arrived at 7:30 a.m. on May 29th from Porto with 3,500 passengers and 1,000 crew members. It is currently docked at the Transatlantic Pier and is scheduled to depart around 6:00 p.m. for Le Havre. The Oriana is also a large vessel, carrying 1,850 passengers and 1,000 crew members. It arrived at the Calvo Sotelo South Pier at 8:30 a.m. from Cádiz and is scheduled to depart for Southampton around 5:00 p.m.
This port call is the second major cruise stop in May, following the Britannia's first visit to the city on the 14th, when it was in port alongside two other ships. The Britannia is currently on its inaugural voyages after its launch in March and is the flagship vessel of P&O Cruises, the Port of A Coruña's main cruise customer, whose fleet also includes the Oriana. The Costa Fortuna belongs to Costa Cruises, one of Europe's largest cruise lines. To mark its first port call, the captain of this ocean liner hosted a reception on board, attended by representatives of the Port Authority and other city institutions. The captain emphasized his positive impression of A Coruña.
Cruise traffic is one of the Port Authority of A Coruña's main priorities and has experienced significant growth in the last five years, tripling passenger numbers. So far in 2015, there have been 35 port calls and 45,000 passengers, a figure that is expected to grow to 96 port calls, 130,000 passengers, and 50,000 crew members by the end of the year. This figure is slightly higher than that of 2014 and is projected to generate an economic impact of around €10 million.
