The Port of Cartagena has once again received, for the second time this week, a double cruise ship call with 1,019 passengers aboard the ships “Clio”, a luxury ship, and the “Mein Schiff 3”, which docks for the first time in Cartagena.
The luxury cruise ship “Mein Schiff 3”, from the TUI shipping company, was launched in 2014. It displaces a tonnage of 99,526 GT, has a length of 293.2 meters and a maximum capacity to accommodate approximately 2,500 passengers in 1,253 cabins, and 1,000 crew members, in an exclusive setting that features the first maritime museum and the first chamber music hall incorporated into a cruise ship.
With COVID-19 measures in place, the ship is operating at 50 percent capacity. In Cartagena, it has docked with 983 German tourists, who have booked 27 excursions: 25 exclusive excursions in Cartagena with walking tours, tourist train rides, visits to centers and museums, a gastronomic tour, a coastal cruise, and nautical experiences; and three excursions exploring the Region.
Meanwhile, the Clio cruise ship, which has returned to Cartagena for the first time this year 2020 with 32 passengers from the United States, last docked in October 2019.
This ship was built in 1998 by the French shipyard Chantiers Alstom Leroux Naval for exclusive world cruises. In 2017, the vessel changed ownership, passing to Grand Circle Cruise Line. This company, a leader in small ocean and river cruise ships, invested over four million euros in the ship's refurbishment.
Measuring just 100 meters in length, the Gran Circle vessel can accommodate up to 89 passengers in its 45 cabins, all of which are exterior. It specializes in adventure cruises and features inflatable boats on board to transport passengers to any point along the coast.
Cruise ships are key to the economic recovery of Cartagena and the Region, providing the definitive boost for the reactivation of tourism and the impetus to closely linked sectors such as commerce, restaurants, culture and passenger transport.
Cruise forecasts for this year are for 58 ships with nearly 60,000 passengers, with 16 ships having docked to date with 15,000 passengers, since the reactivation of cruise tourism last June.
