Always linked to the sea, Vigo is a city that was born and grew up tied to its port. In fact, there are areas where, even today, it's not easy for visitors to distinguish between the port and the city.
Article from CruisesNews magazine
Vigo receives hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, drawn by its beaches, gastronomy, cultural diversity, and leisure activities. Many of them arrive on cruise ships.
Cruise Ship Infrastructure in Vigo:
Vigo boasts a prime Cruise Ship Pier, located right in the city center. Its dimensions and draft have allowed it to accommodate Oasis-class ships, the largest in the world, on several occasions. Built in 1937, dolphins were installed in 2014 to extend the berthing line to 750 meters, enabling it to accommodate two large ships simultaneously.
This pier, with a surface area of 60,000 m², houses not only the cruise terminal but also the Jardines del Cable (Cable Gardens), the Vigo Port Authority's meeting building, warehouses, and a large esplanade ideal for tour bus operations.
When the Cruise Ship Pier is fully occupied, the nearby Commercial Pier takes over with its 300 meters of berthing line and the city's second cruise terminal.
The Vigo Estuary is undoubtedly the best natural infrastructure for cruise ships, as the Cíes Islands protect the bay from swells, allowing for easy docking maneuvers without tugboats, with the cost savings that this entails.
Vigo has great potential to become a port of embarkation for cruises bound for northern Europe.
Click on the image to enlarge it.
Vigo as a Home Port – Passenger Terminals.
The Alberto Durán Transatlantic Maritime Station, named after the pioneering shipping agent who promoted cruise ship calls in the city, bringing them to their historical peak, has a long history as a hub for emigration, international trade, and leisure cruises.
One of the most illustrious passenger ships was undoubtedly the Canberra, which visited the city regularly from 1971 to 1997, when it made its final stop on its way to the scrapyard. The Maritime Station's beautiful stained-glass windows have witnessed the passage of ships from the early days of P&O, Cunard, Holland America Line, the Royal Mail, and Hamburg America Line, to name just a few.
The building houses the Port Authority's Emergency Control Center, as well as the Port Health Department, the Maritime Authority, and the pilotage, mooring, and towing services. The main hall manages cruise ship access control, housing not only shops but also immigration and customs offices. Concentrating all services in a single building streamlines docking and undocking operations and allows for near-immediate clearance upon arrival, as well as the processing of visas and other legal formalities. For embarkation and disembarkation, there are spacious, open-plan areas for check-in and a baggage claim area.
The current layout of the surrounding area was established in 2008 with the construction of the A Laxe Shopping Center, located just 25 meters from the maritime station. This shopping center modernized the area, providing parking and attracting Vigo residents by directly connecting the Transatlantic Pier to the city's old town via an elevated walkway.
At the commercial dock, the old port shed was recently converted into a passenger terminal, thus eliminating any difference in service with the ships that dock at the Transatlantic Pier.
Vigo airport, just 15 minutes from the transatlantic pier, has significantly increased its peninsular and European routes, offering a regular connection not only to the Madrid hub, but also to Lisbon and Barcelona.
In 2009, MSC Cruises embarked more than 2,100 passengers in Vigo on the inaugural voyage of the MSC Splendida, a 133,000 gross ton ship, with its final destination being Barcelona. The success of this operation demonstrated not only the technical capacity of the Port of Vigo but also the strong local demand from cruise passengers.
In 2010, Iberocruceros positioned the Gran Voyager in Vigo for the summer season to operate cruises to the Canary Islands with stops in Lisbon and Cádiz. A successful inaugural season with 23 embarkations led to a second season, but after this, the cruise line decided to reposition the ship in other destinations, and in 2012 Iberocruceros only marketed one repositioning cruise to Northern Europe embarking in the city. Since then, both MSC Cruises and Pullmantur have offered repositioning cruises to Northern Europe with considerable success. This same year, Pullmantur embarked 1,100 passengers on the Monarch, who returned to the city after their cruise in Rostock on five chartered planes.
Vigo's modern airport, just 15 minutes from the cruise terminal, has significantly increased its routes within the Iberian Peninsula and Europe, offering regular connections not only to the Madrid hub but also to Lisbon and Barcelona. With the opening of the high-speed rail line to Madrid at the end of 2019, Vigo will significantly increase its passenger transport capacity between these two cities and the entire AVE high-speed rail network.
The city's hotel infrastructure has grown considerably in recent decades, and excellent 4- and 5-star hotels can be found near the Transatlantic Pier.
Vigo has great potential to become a port of embarkation for cruises to Northern Europe, on routes between Vigo and Hamburg, with stops in Le Havre, Dover, and Amsterdam, for example. Given the enormous growth of the German market and the strength of the English market, it would be a very interesting route to operate with interporting in all three markets.
Evolution of passenger calls in Vigo:
Vigo has been present on tourist cruise routes since its inception, receiving visits, for example, from the P&O Canberra since 1971. A gradual growth is observed until 2005, the year in which growth exceeded 30%, reaching 131,536 passengers, and this happened again in 2008, with growth exceeding 40%, resulting in a passenger figure of 216,333. Between 2008 and 2012, the Port of Vigo maintained more than 100 calls and an average of 230,000 passengers, with 2011 being a record year when 118 calls and 253,637 passengers were reached.
Vigo cannot be understood without its port. This immense dock has shaped the current face of the city, imbuing it with a very special character.
The most charming area is the one surrounding the As Avenidas promenade, between the Transatlantic Pier and the Plaza de la Estrella. The swimmers, two colossal bronze sculptures by Francisco Leiro, define this space of urban enjoyment with a true taste of the sea.
In the current decade, the growth of global tourism, and cruise tourism in particular, has attracted the attention of all coastal cities, which have set out to conquer this new segment and have begun investing in infrastructure or modernizing existing facilities. In recent years, new competitors have emerged on the Atlantic and Cantabrian coasts, such as Porto and Bilbao, both with new cruise ship docks and terminals and a strong tourism image. Furthermore, other ports that had previously been less focused on tourist traffic have begun investing in promotion and development, significantly increasing cruise ship calls, as is the case in A Coruña, Ferrol, Gijón, and Santander.
This new range of destinations has led to a redistribution of cruise ship calls, which Vigo, having operated as the undisputed leader for decades, has felt noticeably in its figures.
Future Outlook:
Vigo has excellent natural and structural conditions to continue being a leader in cruise traffic on the Atlantic coast. However, the forecast for both 2017 and 2018 remains downward. The 2017 forecast points to 72 port calls and 150,000 passengers, while currently, for 2018, there are approximately 60 confirmed port calls and 137,000 passengers.
It is worth highlighting, in any case, important inaugural calls such as that of the Carnival Horizon on May 14, 2018, a newly built ship for which Vigo will be its last European port of call before crossing the Atlantic to New York. Other modern and large ships, such as the MSC Meraviglia, the Koningsdam, the Celebrity Silhouette, the Disney Magic, and the Independence of the Seas, will also be calling at Vigo again this year, as well as numerous ships from Costa Cruises and the "queens" Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, among others.
Vigo has been included in the list of the five Spanish cities with the best climate.
Pullmantur's Zenith will embark passengers in Vigo on April 28, 2018, aiming to surpass the 1,100 passengers it carried in 2017. The cruise will follow the same route as in 2017, with stops in Cherbourg, Dover, Ijmuiden (Amsterdam), Kiel, and ending in Warnemünde (Rostock). Passengers will return to Vigo on charter flights.
The inaugural calls of the Seabourn Quest and the Viking Sky will bring mid-sized luxury cruise ships to the Port of Vigo for the first time. May will be the busiest month, with 15 scheduled calls.
In the coming years, with a constantly growing cruise market and record orders for shipyards, there will be significant opportunities for Vigo. Seven new cruise ships will be built in shipyards in Northern Europe in 2019, several of which will be destined for the Mediterranean, such as the MSC Bellissima, sister ship of the MSC Meraviglia, in the first quarter, as well as the first unit of the Meraviglia-Plus class, expected in October. That same month will see the debut of the Costa Smeralda, the first cruise ship from an international shipping company to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as its primary fuel.
The Port of Vigo, aware of the importance that liquefied natural gas will have as a fuel in the following decades, has become involved in the first projects underway to supply this type of fuel by barge.
The Port of Vigo, aware of the importance that liquefied natural gas will have as a fuel in the coming decades, has become involved in the first projects underway to supply this type of fuel by barge. This action is part of an ambitious sustainable economic growth program called Blue Growth, which has garnered widespread praise from European institutions.
At the end of 2019, the first cruise ship built in Spain in decades will be launched from the Hijos de J. Barreras shipyard in Vigo. It is also the most expensive civilian vessel ever built in the country, commissioned by the luxury hotel brand Ritz-Carlton, which aims to make a splash in the ultra-luxury market with a 24,000-gross-ton mega-yacht. If the construction of this first unit meets expectations, the order will be extended to two more.
In the coming years, all cruise lines will continue to launch new ships, and new brands such as Virgin Voyages, founded by Richard Branson, will also emerge.
All this growth in the cruise industry will undoubtedly bring more traffic to the Atlantic coast, and the Port of Vigo faces the challenge of attracting it in the coming years.
tourism potential
lies in its location within the Rías Baixas, a region of great scenic beauty, boasting excellent beaches, abundant natural resources, gastronomy, winemaking traditions, and cultural heritage. Last summer, the Rías Baixas surpassed Santiago de Compostela, Galicia's tourism icon, in tourist arrivals.
The Vigo estuary is the largest of the three Rías Baixas, offering a remarkable variety of activities and destinations, combining the culture, gastronomy, and shopping of a large, modern city with the charm of its maritime origins and nearby leisure options.
The Cíes Islands, which protect the Vigo estuary from the ocean's force, are already a National Park where cruise ships from National Geographic, Sea Cloud Cruises, and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises have docked, and they aspire to be declared a World Heritage Site in the coming years.
The city is currently beginning a transformation process, with multiple urban development projects underway that will facilitate the mobility of cruise passengers, such as the escalators that will be installed on the Gran Vía or the pedestrianization of the Puerta del Sol, the most central square in Vigo, a few meters from the cruise ship dock.
Vigo is undoubtedly the port in the region that offers the most and best options for cruise passengers to enjoy their destination.
The rehabilitation of the old town will continue with the restoration of several buildings in Plaza del Berbés, and in addition, the conversion of the old net menders' warehouse into an office building improves an area very close to the Transatlantic Dock.
The arrival of the high-speed train at the end of 2019 will coincide with many of these projects already completed and others underway, but undoubtedly with a more tourist-friendly and accessible city.
In addition to the various guided city tours, there are routes to the many nearby wineries where you can learn all about the process and flavor of internationally award-winning wines. In the surrounding area, you can visit towns that retain their traditional maritime charm, such as Baiona or Combarro, combine the two historic cross-border cities of Tui and Valença do Minho, or stroll along natural riverside trails or through manicured camellia gardens.
According to tour operators who plan passenger itineraries, Vigo is undoubtedly the port in the region that offers the most and best options for cruise passengers, in most cases no more than 30 or 40 minutes away by bus.
Vigo and the Rias Baixas are becoming increasingly attractive to retain cruise passengers in their area.
Itineraries:
Located 700 nautical miles from Southampton, Vigo has long been a popular stop on British cruise itineraries, thanks not only to its geographical location but also to its excellent conditions as a natural harbor. Sailing at 17 knots, the distance is covered in 41 hours, meaning a ship departing Southampton at 4:00 PM would arrive in the city at 9:00 AM the following day—a perfect time to begin shore excursions. Further south, Vigo is only 240 nautical miles from Lisbon, about 15 hours sailing at 16 knots. Therefore, a cruise ship could depart at 6:00 PM and arrive in Lisbon at 8:00 AM local time, as Portugal is in a different time zone than Spain. Vigo generally receives British cruise ships from March to October exploring the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands and Madeira, but its activity increases significantly in May and September, with the passage of ships repositioning themselves to and from northern Europe.
With the opening of the AVE high-speed train to Madrid in 2019, Vigo will significantly increase its passenger transport capacity.
Key dates related to cruises in Vigo
- 1920s: Vigo becomes part of the circuit of English transatlantic liners to India and the Far East.
- Year 1929: Stop in Vigo of the Viceroy of India, the first P&O ship with an indoor swimming pool.
- 1930s: German ocean liners begin arriving in Vigo.
- Year 1940: Vigo is the first Spanish port to receive the largest transatlantic liner in the Spanish merchant marine (163m in length), the Cabo de Hornos, bought by the Ybarra shipping company from the North American company President Lines.
- Sep 14 1961: Inauguration of the Transatlantic Maritime Station of the Port of Vigo.
- May 27, 1966: The Maritime Station is expanded by providing it with passenger transit galleries on both sides to facilitate the simultaneous docking of up to three ocean liners.
- Year 1971: First stop of the Canberra in the city.
- September 8, 1997: Last stop of the Canberra in the city after almost 150 visits and more than 250,000 cruise passengers.
- December 25, 2003: Queen Mary 2 uses the Vigo Estuary for its sea and mooring tests.
- May 15, 2008: First stop of the Independence of the Seas, at that time the largest cruise ship in the world.
- July 8, 2009: 2120 passengers board the inaugural voyage of the MSC Splendida.
- Year 2010: 23 embarkation and disembarkation stops of the Grand Voyager, of the Spanish company Iberocruceros, which represent more than 11,000 embarkations and more than 9,000 disembarkations in the year.
- 2011: The year of records at the port of Vigo: 118 calls and 253,637 passengers.
- April 26, 2011: Quadruple cruise ship stop. Celebrity Eclipse, MSC Orchestra, Ryndam and Boudicca.
- September 6, 2012: Absolute record for passengers and visitors in a single day: Triple stop of the RCCL Independence of the Seas, CUNARD Queen Mary 2 and the Costa Pacifica, bringing 13,264 visitors to the city (9,685 passengers and 3,579 crew members).
- September 27, 2014: First stop of the Oasis of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, in a double stop, with the Celebrity Infinity, bringing more than 10,600 visitors to the city (7,431 passengers and 3,169 crew members).
- June 1, 2016: First port of call for the Harmony of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship. Vigo, its first stop after leaving the shipyard, set a record for passenger numbers for a single cruise ship in Vigo, with 5,387 passengers and 2,289 crew members.
- May 17, 2017: The RCCL Independence of the Seas surpasses 125 port calls in Vigo, carrying over 500,000 passengers and 170,000 crew members. By the end of 2018, it will have made 135 calls, carrying over 530,000 passengers and 180,000 crew members.
The Port of Vigo faces the challenge of capturing the increased traffic from the Atlantic coast in the coming years.
Facilities:
Cruise traffic in Vigo takes place in the central area of the Port, located in the heart of the city, in a continuous, pedestrianized, and landscaped space with direct access to the old town and the city's main shopping areas; framed by Vigo's two cruise terminals. At one end is the Transatlantic Pier, with the historic Alberto Durán Maritime Station building, which houses Vigo's main cruise terminal; and at the other end is the Commercial Pier, where the secondary cruise terminal is located, designed to complement the first in the event of multiple cruise ship calls.
- Cruise passengers in 2016: 169,093
- Cruise ships in 2016: 83
