The first cruise ship of the season will arrive in Stockholm on 10th April. Despite the troubling international situation, the season has a lot of bookings, with many cruise ships booking extended stays. Stockholm is an extremely popular cruise destination and an obvious choice for shipping companies and travel organizers.
World Odyssey is the first cruise ship of this season. She arrives at Frihamnen Port on the morning of 10th April, will stay for four days, and is the first of 230 pre-booked cruise ship calls* to Stockholm and Nynäshamn during 2022.
Many of the cruise ships will stay longer than usual in Stockholm this year, as the shipping companies have removed Saint Petersburg from their Baltic Sea cruise schedules. This means that passengers will spend more time in the Swedish capital, providing increased revenue for the tourist industry in the region.
“It gives me great pleasure to see the cruise season beginning. Stockholm is a very popular destination and the Ports of Stockholm will welcome as many as 230 cruise ships, despite the troubling international situation.The long-awaited tourists will stay longer than usual, which will be a major positive boost for Stockholm and our tourist industry that was hit hard by the pandemic,” says Fredrik Lindstål, Chair of the Board at Ports of Stockholm.
The cruise shipping companies have seen huge interest in cruise travel now that society is opening up again after the pandemic. At the same time, the shipping companies are taking great responsibility to make sure travel is safe. Ports of Stockholm is working together with the shipping companies and agents to take all necessary safety precautions, and also has a close dialogue with the authorities and other stakeholders about the pandemic and the troubling international situation.
“We have close dialogue with the shipping companies about the pandemic situation and the international security policy developments. We have also worked closely together with the shipping companies for many years on environmental issues. Next year it will be possible for cruise ships to connect to onshore power in Stockholm,” explains Stefan Scheja, Marketing Manager Ferries and Cruises.
It has been possible for many years to offload sewage at all of the quay-berths. Work is currently ongoing to complete onshore power connections for cruise ships in the centre of Stockholm in 2023. There are only a few facilities like this in Europe. Ports of Stockholm also offers environmental rebates to encourage the shipping companies to take greater responsibility for environmental measures than is legally required.
