Abu Dhabi Cruise Industry Celebrates Record Season

Voyages beginning in Abu Dhabi have been in very high demand, cruises from Celebrity and MSC Cruises beginning from the port have led to a record breaking season for the Abu Dhabi cruise industry.

Royal Caribbean International posted a 95% load factor for it’s Celebrity Cruises ship, Celebrity Constellation, meaning the ship carried more than 13,000 guests in 975 staterooms during the six 12-15 night voyages that departed during the three months that it called Abu Dhabi its homeport.

In addition to this forward bookings for the 2017/18 season are already running at an amazing 23% ahead of the same time last year, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) has said.

Head of Business Development for Celebrity Cruises, Michael English, was quoted as saying: “Last year was the first year we sailed from Abu Dhabi and we have had an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from both agent partners as well as our guests. We are now looking forward to the 2017-2018 season when Celebrity Constellation will return to the region.”

Returning for a third successive season in 2017-18 will be MSC Cruises, who will once more make Abu Dhabi the homeport of its 3,900 passenger MSC Splendida. The state-of-the-art Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal will be home to MSC Splendida, as it undertakes 15 cruises in the area.

It is forecast that Abu Dhabi will welcome more than 300,000 passengers via 148 calls from 18 different cruise ships in the 2017/18 season, which will span across 15 different cruise lines.

Looking further ahead Oxford Economics have produced an economic impact and forecasting report which has predicted that the Abu Dhabi cruise tourism segment will attract  450,000 cruise passengers by 2020, and number which they predict will rise to a staggering 808,000 in 2025.

By Richard Hemming