Cruise Industry
The heyday of cruising was thought to have been the early part of the 20th century when high levels of ocean-going passengers passed through the port, it was during this time that the Ports nick name ‘the gateway to the world’ was coined. Competition from the airlines largely ended the era of transatlantic cruising and it seemed likely not to return. However, cruising has made a spectacular comeback and is growing stronger and stronger. Southampton has experienced unprecedented growth in cruise passenger numbers in the last ten years. As the UK’s premier cruise port, Southampton is home to the UK fleets of both P&O Cruises and Cunard Line and is also used regularly by Royal Caribbean International, Fred Olsen Cruise Line and Saga Holidays.
In 1998, 110 cruise calls were made by 258,000 cruise passengers and 2008 saw over 280 cruise calls and in excess of 950,000 passengers passing through the port - another record breaking year. 2008 also saw the high-profile occasions as the historic meeting of Cunard’s ‘three queens’ (‘Queen Victoria’, ‘QM2’ and ‘QE2’) as well as the naming of P&O’s ‘Ventura’ and Royal Caribbean’s ‘Independence of the Seas’. The Port is now proud to be known as the ‘Cruise Capital of Northern Europe’.
ABP Port of Southampton offer’s state of the art facilities, including three dedicated cruise terminals that enable the Port to accommodate the largest cruise vessels in the world. ABP invested £19 million in a fourth cruise terminal on the back of a 20 year contract with Carnival which opened in May 2009 allowing more cruise ship turn-arounds.
