The cruise season began in the Port of Las Palmas on October 3rd with the arrival of the 'Celebrity Silhouette'. Two weeks later, two cruise ship giants, the 344-meter-long 'Iona' and the 306-meter-long 'Celebrity Apex', made their maiden voyages. Nearly twenty ships from the current 2011-22 cruise season will have their first encounter with our port and Gran Canaria.
The president of the Port Authority of Las Palmas (APLP), Luis Ibarra, emphasizes that "cruise activity is returning with as much normality as possible and with the greatest health guarantees.".
The Port of Las Palmas “is receiving this season a good sample of a renewed global fleet on its inaugural voyages,” he adds, “as shipping companies are making a great effort globally to refurbish or replace their assets, having already sent 10 percent of their ships to be scrapped.”.
The cruise ships that are making their first stop at the Port of Las Palmas this season are, in October, 'Iona' (P&O Cruises, October 15), 'Celebrity Apex' (Celebrity Cruise, October 15), 'Regal Princess' (Princess Cruises, October 16), 'Sea Cloud Spirit' (Sea Cloud Cruises GmbH, October 24), 'Bolette' (Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Ltd., October 25), 'Hanseatic Inspiration' (Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten, October 29) and 'Seabourn Ovation' (Seabourn Cruise Line, October 31).
In November, the ships will be 'La Belle des Oceans' (CroisiEurope, November 8), 'Corinthian' (Grand Circle Travel, November 15), 'MSC Seaview' (MSC Cruises, November 22), 'Silver Moon' (Silversea Cruises, November 22) and 'Vasco da Gama' (Mystic Cruises, November 28).
In December it will be 'Azamara Journey' (Azamara Cruises, December 11).
In February, the ships will be 'Seabourn Encore' (Seabourn Cruise Line, February 4) and 'Seven Seas Voyager' (Seven Seas Cruises, February 22).
In April, the ships will be 'World Explorer' (Mystic Cruises, April 7), 'Riviera' (Oceania Cruises, April 10) and 'Le Lyrial' (Compagnie du Ponant, April 17).
In May it will be 'MSC Virtuosa' (MSC Cruises, May 17).
In the 2021-22 season, the three cruise ports of the APLP (Port Authority of Las Palmas) will see an increase in port calls. In fact, there will be 661 calls across the ports of Las Palmas (283 calls), Arrecife (268 calls), and Puerto del Rosario (110 calls), an 18.04% increase compared to 2018-19 (the pre-pandemic season).
This strength of the sector in Las Palmas is largely due to the work carried out in the Canary Islands since last year when the coordination and collaboration of administrations and shipping companies allowed the resumption of cruise traffic with specific health protocols that have subsequently served other ports in the summer season that is now ending.
“The success of the Canary Islands pilot program for the reactivation of cruises during the pandemic reinforces us as a safe destination and as managers capable of combining public and private know-how,” recalls Luis Ibarra.
It should also be noted that part of this increase in port calls is due to the reduction of capacity on ships to 75 percent, in compliance with current COVID-19 regulations. Shipping companies estimate reaching 600,000 cruise passengers (before the pandemic, the season saw 1.3 million cruise passengers). During the European pilot program, between November 2020 and June 2021, there were 206 port calls (part of 80 itineraries around the Canary Islands, without visiting ports in other regions or countries) with 103,500 passengers. The health and safety protocols implemented during this pilot program, along with the experience gained by public and private operators, served as a model for the rest of the Spanish ports for the summer season that is now concluding.
