Thursday, April 12, 2018 - 11:01 by ijmuiden
Thursday 5 April 2018 – It is 5:00 a.m. and it has been busy the last few hours at the Felison Cruise Terminal in IJmuiden. Pilots, Tugboats, Harbor master, Boatmen and a team of KVSA employees are ready for a big reception.
“We are extremely happy and honored to receive the MSC Magnifica”, says Ron Maes, general manager of the Felison Cruise Terminal. It is a very special occasion today”.
Not only does the Felison cruise Terminal welcome two cruise ships simultaneously, but with the arrival of the MSC Magnifica we receive our largest cruise ship ever”.
The MSC Magnifica measures 294 meters in length, 32 meters in width and is almost 60 meters high. “It is the first time that a ship of this size will dock in IJmuiden”, says Maes.
With the help of the Pilots and Tugboats, Captain Laccarino manages to dock safely into IJmuiden despite the strong winds that accompanied her from Zeebrugge.
On this particular cruise, there are 3,095 passengers on board for a European tour.
With the ship docked, the terminal crew come into action and proceed to connect the gangway.
They have been preparing the terminal for the reception of the passengers and crew since 03:00 this morning. Meanwhile the exiting passengers from the ship are guided to the coaches that are lined up on the quay. From there they drive to various tourist attractions, such as ‘Zaanse Schans’, Keukenhof’, Amsterdam or Haarlem.
At 07.00 a.m. the Albatros arrives on time. The MS Albatros is part of the German company ‘Phoenix Reisen’ and measures 178 meter in length and 25 meters in width.
Due to a very busy schedule of the MS Albatros, the ship can only stay in port for six hours. Doing so in IJmuiden grants the 792 passengers enough time to visit the greater Amsterdam area.
“Look over there”, says Maes, pointing towards a third cruise vessel passing towards the IJmuiden locks. “That’s the AIDA Sol heading towards Amsterdam. Next Sunday April 8th she will also come to IJmuiden”.
“The arrival of the MSC Magnifica and Albatros mark the start of this years’ cruise season, which will run until December”. “While Albatros will depart this afternoon, MSC Magnifica will stay overnight and depart at 07:00 for Hamburg”.
“It’s always sad to see them leave at the end of their stay, especially this truly magnificent sea castle. However, we are looking forward to welcome MSC Magnifica back again next year on May 12th.”
