Harwich has 26 calls booked in 2010 compared to 46 turnaround and six transit calls in 2009 bringing a total of 135,000 passengers to the east coast of England port. The reason for the decrease is that Thomson Cruises and Celebrity Cruises will not be homeporting this year as they did last, explains Michaela Farry, marketing assistant Harwich International Port.
New ships to visit this year are Costa Deliziosa, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ Black Watch and Thomson Dream which will be calling very late in the season on October 27.
In September 2009, the port inaugurated a multimillion pound passenger gangway built by Team of Barcelona. It is designed to accommodate the world’s largest cruiseships, is airconditioned and can elevate up to 10m with a range along the quay of 25m.
The port is located 70 miles from London with a railway connection directly from the port. It has a purpose-built cruise terminal, three passenger berths capable of accommodating vessels up to 320m in long and a draught of 9.2m, and parking for over 1,500 cars and 60 coaches. Courtesy buses are available to transport passengers from car parks directly to the terminal.
In recent years, Harwich has been established as a UK cruise port for turnaround calls and now serves a number of markets, including North Cape, Baltic, Scandinavia, around Britain and the Mediterranean.
