Port of Aberdeen celebrates another record-breaking cruise season

29/10/2025

Port of Aberdeen celebrates another record-breaking cruise season

Aberdeen’s rise as one of the UK’s leading cruise destinations gathered pace in 2025, with 43,000 guests welcomed – an impressive 79% increase on 2024. The growth was driven by a record 65 cruise calls, up more than 50% year on year, alongside a trend of larger vessels berthing at the port’s new £420 million Aberdeen South Harbour. The 2025 cruise season was brought to a close on Saturday 20 September with the arrival of Viking Vela at South Harbour. Highlights included maiden calls from Viking Cruises, the arrival of The Ritz-Carlton’s Ilma, the return of the magnificent 292m-long Costa Favolosa, and hosting Cruise Britain’s prestigious Annual Summer Event in June. Guests were greeted throughout the season by Alba Bagpipes on the quayside who joined VisitAberdeenshire’s ‘Welcome to Aberdeenshire’ volunteers to give a warm, world-class welcome. The volunteers play a significant role in welcoming and assisting guests in discovering what Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire has to offer, everything from exploring the city by open-top bus to excursions out to Deeside, Dunnottar and the Garioch. The CruiseAberdeenshire partnership continued its efforts to attract new cruise lines and promote the region on the global stage, exhibiting at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami and Seatrade Europe in Hamburg. Chris Foy, CEO, VisitAberdeenshire, said: “The growth in cruise numbers 2025 has been celebrated by tourism, hospitality and retail businesses across the city and shire. The first impression of our destination remains as important as ever, so with the support of Peterson Energy Logistics, we expanded the quayside volunteer programme this year to offer even more warm welcomes and visitor information to passengers from all over the world. Looking ahead, the VisitAberdeenshire team are advising more businesses on how to get ‘cruise-ready’ with an ambition to spread the benefits further into Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.” Bob Sanguinetti DL, CEO, Port of Aberdeen, continued: “We’re proud to provide cruise operators with a seamless, high-quality experience backed by first-class infrastructure and exceptional customer service. We’re excited to welcome even more visitors to discover everything Aberdeen and the wider region has to offer.”

26/07/2024

RECORD-BREAKING ARRIVAL DRIVES PORT OF ABERDEEN’S DIVERSIFICATION

Port of Aberdeen today (26 July 2024) set a new benchmark for its capability and capacity as it welcomed the spectacular 290-metre long Costa Favolosa cruise ship, the largest vessel to visit the port in its 888-year history. The Costa Cruises vessel, which has 13 decks and weighs 113,307 gross tonnes, arrived at South Harbour from Kirkwall for a day-long stopover before departing to Edinburgh. The 4,000 guests and crew received an authentic Scottish welcome from the Robert Gordon College Pipe Band, Alba Bagpipes, and VisitAberdeenshire’s ‘Welcome to Aberdeenshire’ volunteers. Bob Sanguinetti, CEO, Port of Aberdeen, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Costa Favolosa, its guests and crew to Aberdeen. This is the latest demonstration of how we’re driving diversification in energy, trade and tourism with our expanded infrastructure. Activity levels at South Harbour have exceeded expectations, as we compete for a new scale of opportunities with prospective and existing customers. “As the UK’s oldest existing business, we know what it means to adapt and rise to the challenges of tomorrow. Together, in partnership with government and industry, we can drive sustainable economic growth and energy transition.” Chris Foy, CEO, VisitAberdeenshire, said: “The increase in calls for the 2024/25 season is further evidence of the region’s growing reputation as a quality destination for cruise operators.” Russell Borthwick, Chief Executive, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is literally the biggest piece of evidence yet that the investment by Port of Aberdeen in the world class South Harbour facility and the work over the last few years by Team Aberdeen is seeing us established as a calling point of choice for UK and Northern European cruise operators. We are already welcoming tens of thousands of new visitors to the region every year as a result and this will grow exponentially by the end of the decade.” Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader, Councillor Christian Allard, said: “The arrival of the Costa Favolosa underlines Aberdeen’s growing importance as a cruise ship destination. Our city is being transformed – and both tourists and local businesses are enjoying the benefits.”

22/06/2023

Cruise underway at Port of Aberdeen’s new South Harbour

The 2023 cruise season is well underway at Port of Aberdeen, which will welcome a wide range of new cruise vessels to the city, boosting the regional economy by more than £4.2 million. With more than 40 calls scheduled from May and October*, and up to 34,000 tourists visiting the North East of Scotland, the benefit to local businesses this year and beyond could be significant with cruise calls to Scotland generating an average spend of £134 per passenger per call (source: Cruise Scotland). The first cruise call to the new £400 million Aberdeen South Harbour was the eye-catching, 203m long AIDAaura on 2 May and has been followed by the NG Resolution, the Ocean Endeavour and the MS Amera amongst others. To support the growth in cruise Port of Aberdeen has been working with partners including leading tourism agency VisitAberdeenshire, Aberdeen Inspired, Visit Scotland and the local authorities to position Aberdeen City and Shire as a prime tourist destination. Aberdeenshire was recently named by Good Housekeeping as best place to visit in 2023. Bob Sanguinetti, Chief Executive, Port of Aberdeen, said: “We are delighted to welcome a host of new cruise ships to Port of Aberdeen in the maiden year of South Harbour. “Our investment in South Harbour will allow us to handle much larger cruise ships than preceding years and we expect to see year-on-year increases in the number of cruise calls. It's encouraging to see that major international cruise lines are already booking their larger ships for calls to Aberdeen in 2024 and beyond.” Port of Aberdeen has a proven track record welcoming boutique and expedition cruise ships to North Harbour, and now extends this expertise at the transformational South Harbour. The new deepwater harbour significantly increases the port’s capacity for cruise calls and will be able to accommodate cruise ships over 250m in length. Port of Aberdeen is a gateway to the stunning scenery, rich cultural heritage, and impressive architecture of North East Scotland. We look forward to welcoming more cruise lines and tens of thousands more passengers to experience this incredible region every year. Chris Foy, Chief Executive, VisitAberdeenshire, said: “The opening of the South Harbour to cruise ships in 2023 is a timely boost to the tourism and hospitality sector in the North-east. Disembarking passengers - who will be met by our Welcome to Aberdeenshire volunteers – will have a wealth of experiences to enjoy during their time on our shores, planting the seed for future travel back to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire for a longer stay.