More than 12,000 tourists have arrived at the Port of Vigo by sea via a cruise stop since the resumption of this traffic, which was paralyzed worldwide in March 2020 as a result of the health crisis arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ship responsible for resuming this service in the Port of Vigo was the luxury cruise ship Seadream I, which, on August 21, made the first stop of a passenger ship at the Vigo Transatlantic Terminal, after almost a year and a half since the last visit of the Oceana, on March 11, 2020.
With this long-awaited stopover, Vigo became the first port in northern Spain to recover cruise traffic and welcome back international passengers, joining the group of Spanish ports that have been gradually recovering passenger traffic since the Spanish government lifted the ban on international itineraries last May.
The end of the ban was accompanied by a series of measures enacted by the Ministry of Health, including strict health protocols for cruise lines. These measures included a considerable reduction in maximum onboard capacity, vaccination and/or PCR testing before boarding and repeat PCR or antigen tests during the itinerary, excursions in small groups (with the option of a "bubble" to avoid contact with the local population and reduce the risk of infection), staggered meal times, boarding and disembarkation times, and so on. This demanding protocol was in line with European guidelines, which many countries have used as a basis for establishing their own regulations.
Since the resumption of cruise traffic, the Port of Vigo has received more than 12,000 transit passengers, in addition to nearly 10,000 crew members, across a total of 11 port calls. In 2020, the Port of Vigo welcomed 7 cruise ship calls, bringing a total of 9,425 passengers and 4,542 crew members.
Between now and the end of the year, another 13 calls are scheduled, including a double call on October 21 by the Spirit of Adventure and the Regal Princess; three calls by the Iona - on November 2 and 30 and December 31 -, three calls by the Ventura - on November 9 and 14 and December 8 -; the inaugural call of the Regal Princess - on November 6 -; the arrival of the Amadea - on November 15 -; the Artania - on December 23 -; and the two calls by the giant Celebrity Silhouette, which, after docking today in the city center, will return to the Vigo docks on two occasions.
Regarding the coming year, everything seems to indicate that the positive evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic will allow a return to the much-desired normality in cruise traffic. However, cruise lines have not yet finalized their initial forecasts for 2022. The Port of Vigo expects to exceed 70 passenger ship calls that year, a figure that, as of today, is provisional. What is certain is that, although the number of arrivals is not as high as in previous years, the ships arriving in Vigo are larger, which translates into more passengers compared to other ports.
The Celebrity Silhouette arrived in Vigo at 08.30 from Southampton with 968 passengers on board and 880 crew members and is scheduled to set sail for Tenerife around 15.00.
