The 18th of May was marked with an outstanding event in the life of the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg – the arrival of the largest ship ever in the history of the port, the Carnival Corporation owned 330-meter-long cruise ship Royal Princess, the Passenger Port St. Petersburg Marine Façade press service said.
Within her 11-day voyage, the ship carrying on board 3500 passengers has visited the ports of Warnemunde and Tallinn, will stay for two days in Saint-Petersburg and then will proceed to Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and Aarhus.
The 19-deck cruise ship capacity is 4,200 people, Port of Registry - Bermuda. The ship was laid down in 2011 at Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani Shipyard. In June 2013 Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, participated as the the Royal Princess' godmother in a launching, naming ceremony.
On May 19 a plaques exchange ceremony will be held on board on the occasion of the maiden call of the Royal Princess to St. Petersburg. There will also be a meeting of Senior VP of Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc, and master of the Royal Princess with the harbour master of the Passenger Port of Saint-Petersburg, Director of FGU Seaport Authority Big Port St. Petersburg, Director of FGUP Rosmorport, representatives of PLC Passenger Port of St. Petersburg Marine Façade and INFLOT Worldwide Rus LLC. to discuss the navigation details of the first call of the Royal Princess to Passenger Port of St. Petersburg and recommendations for future calls.
Eleven cruise ship calls of Royal Princess During have been scheduled for the summer 2014 shipping season, including 10 itineraries starting the routes from the Passenger Port of Saint-Petersburg.
Carnival Corporation & plc, which is the world's largest cruise operator, comprises ten cruise lines: Carnival Cruise Lines, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ibero Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line. The operator owns a fleet of more than 100 cruise ships.
Since the beginning of the navigation in 2008 the Carnival Corporation & plc cruise lines vessels has made 342 calls, the largest number of arrivals at Passenger Port of Saint-Petersburg. In 2014 the Passenger Port of Saint-Petersburg expects 101 calls of the cruise lines operator. There will be 230,000 tourists onboard the ships visiting the city in 2014.