Cruise lines

Türkiye hosted 1.7 million cruise passengers in the first 10 months of the year, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry has announced.

While the number of passengers increased by 26.8 percent, the number of cruise ships arriving in Türkiye rose by 3.7 percent to 1,112 compared to the same period last year.

A total of 749 cruise ships visited Türkiye's ports in the January-August period, bringing 1.2 million passengers, according to data from the Transport Ministry.

August was the busiest month in terms of cruise ship traffic at 176, but most passengers arrived in July at more than 315,000.

The cruise industry has voiced its opposition to the fee the government said it will impose as of 2025 on cruise ports of call, reaching up to 20 euros per person for Mykonos and Santorini.

Cruise company Celestyal has announced the cancellation of its repositioning cruises from Athens to Doha and the return voyage between the two cities, which were originally scheduled to depart on October 26, 2024, and March 8, 2025, respectively.

The Seabourn Encore, a luxury cruise ship built by Fincantieri of Italy for Seabourn Cruise Line, docked at Nafplio in the eastern Peloponnese, dwarfing the Bourtzi Fortress on Saturday. Sailing from the Ionian island of Corfu, the 210-meter ultra-luxurious ship carrying over 560 passengers, mainly British and American, disembarked at the port of Nafplio.

On Monday Celestyal Cruises launched a new summer saving campaign, available on new bookings made until August 31.

The campaign features headline savings of up to 50% across their 2024, 2025 and recently launched 2026 and early 2027 programs.

Greece is among the top three tourism destinations cruise in the Mediterranean, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), while last year Greek ports welcomed 7 million passengers and 5,230 cruise ship calls.

Celestyal Cruises announced on Tuesday its year-round programs from 2025 to early 2027 to go on sale from Wednesday, with a 30% capacity increase.

More than 6,000 passengers on the two cruise ships that “docked” today at the port of Thessaloniki -most of them Americans and Canadians, but also Britons and other Europeans. With “ally” the good weather, most of them poured into the sunny city, opting for the four-hour city tour, with visits to the most important sights, such as the White Tower, St.

Cruise ships brought more than 135,000 holidaymakers to Turkish ports in the first four months of 2024, marking a 10 percent increase from a year ago.

In January-April last year, around 123,000 cruise ship passengers visited the country's ports.