Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - 08:35 by ce-press
This year Le Havre has a number of infrastructure developments taking place. Terminal 12 at the Pierre Caillet quay is being expanded from 600m2 to 2,400m2, giving more room for cruise activity. Metal detecting archways for onshore control of hand luggage will be available in this terminal (six lines) and also in R Meunier terminal (four lines).
A green way/voie verte is being created between the terminal and the city. Cars will have separate lanes. The port waterfront is undergoing total renovation with the goal being to link the beach promenade to the port area. Water and shorepower terminals are being set up on the river cruise Quai de Marseille.
Ocean going calls rose from 129 in 2017 to 145 in 2018 and are decreasing to 135 this year. Last year was “exceptional because MSC did a lot of calls,” explained Valerie Conan, director, cruise department, Le Havre Etretat Tourism. This year there will be 31 turnaround calls (mainly partial) including one from Queen Mary 2 on a transatlantic crossing.
In terms of river cruising, the numbers are going up because Le Havre is “pushing it hard” unlike in previous years. “We now have a dedicated person for river cruising. We have created a river cruise manual complete with practical information, such as contact details for a tailor for mending clothes,” said Conan.
Le Havre Tourism now includes Etretat which gives new excursion possibilities, such as gardens overlooking the Channel and Fecamp Fisheries Museum. In addition the message is going out that Le Havre is a destination in its own right, as well as being a gateway to Paris.
This is partly due to the 500th anniversary celebrations which took place in 2017 which did much to heighten the profile of this Unesco world heritage city. The first Un Ete au Havre was held that year and is becoming an annual fixture. This year the summer programme of artistic exhibitions and events both inside and out includes an exhibition, Raoul Dufy in Le Havre, at the Museum of Art.
This year seven FIFA Women’s World Cup games are being hosted and Normandy will be commemorating the 75th anniversary of the WW2 Landing. Fred Olsen Cruise Line’s Boudicca, Regent Seven Seas Navigation and Seabourn Ovation are all visiting for the latter.
