Monday, April 29, 2019 - 16:19 by portland
The inaugural visit to Portland Port by Pullmantur’s cruise liner Zenith took place today April 29th 2019. Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line based in Madrid Spain, beginning its operations as an off shoot of the Madrid based travel agency Pullmantur.
Zenith is the nautical sister of Horizon, and like Horizon is a mid-sized ship with 12 decks and a passenger capacity of 1828
Departing from Vigo in Spain on 27th April, Zenith made her way to Portland. From here the ship will continue on to Cherbourg in France and then on to Dover. Her next port of call is Ijmuiden in Holland and finally arriving at Malmo in Sweden on May 4th.
Portland Port is used to a diverse mix of passengers regularly welcoming German guests and so far this year the port has also seen large numbers of Swiss and Italian visitors. Now the port welcomes Spanish travellers too, further enhancing the wide mix of cultures visiting the local area in 2019. Portland Port endeavours to provide every passenger with the best possible experience and should passengers have any questions when they arrive, Portland Port provides a ‘Welcome Team’ on the quayside, who are prepared with maps, local knowledge and the appropriate language skills. Ian McQuade, General Manager Commercial for the port said, “we recognise the importance of giving a warm welcome in the appropriate language to our cruise visitors and our multi-lingual Welcome Team really help us deliver on this”.
The port’s complimentary shuttle bus service was running from the port into Weymouth, but for those passengers that wished to stay on Portland, the shuttle bus dropped them off outside the gates of the port, where Portland Castle is just a short walk away, and they can access local transport around the island.
In the hour leading up to the vessel’s departure there will be musical entertainment on the quayside with Weymouth Concert Brass Band. And finally, as with all cruise ships departures, the Nothe Fort Artillery Volunteers will provide a spectacular 3 shot salute as the vessel pulls away.
