The 160 m long vessel Astoria, able to take on-board up to 500 guests, has inaugurated the 2018 cruise season at the Port of Gdańsk.

With 74 calls, this year will be Gdańsk's busiest cruise season ever, set to last till 20 October. The 239 m long Marina will be the biggest ship to visit Gdańsk in 2018.

"First and foremost the benefits go to the city and the region, not only to the port," Łukasz Greinke, President of the Board and Managing Director, the Port of Gdańsk, said. He added, "According to the data, each guest going ashore spends around 80 euros, buying food, souvenirs, or going sightseeing."

Marcin Osowski, Vice-President of the Board for Infrastructure and Infrastructure Director, the Port of Gdańsk, also said, "Foreign tourists are more and more interested in coming to Gdańsk, therefore we are preparing to meet this demand by investing in new infrastructure which will make it possible to host cruise ships more often. We want the biggest vessels to berth in Gdańsk, that's why we plan to erect a passenger terminal within the Central Port [a brand-new greenfield multi-terminal deep water harbour to be set up in the Gdańsk Bay]."

Photo: Port of Gdańsk