Cape cruise season sails into full swing

Today (26 January 2017), Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, officially welcomed the Queen Mary 2 as it docked in Cape Town, Western Cape.

Queen Mary 2 has a maximum capacity of 3 090 passengers and 1 238 crew, and is running at about 90% occupancy.

Arriving in the city today, it will depart from Cape Town tomorrow, with a one-day stop in Port Elizabeth, before continuing to Mauritius.

Minister Winde will be on board the vessel later today, to welcome the guests and crew to our province.

In the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 cruise season, over 100 000 tourists travelled via ship to Cape Town.

At the end of 2015, Transnet National Ports Authority announced the V&A Waterfront as the preferred bidder of the Terminal Operator agreement, which is a 20-year agreement.

“There has been significant investment into Cape Town’s Cruise Terminal. Initial upgrades, including baggage handling services, and reception and waiting areas, have dramatically improved our capacity to process cruise liner passengers.

“The V&A Waterfront have committed R50 million in the first two phases of its upgrades to the terminal, and they are ensuring this is a year-around world-class facility. Through our Project Khulisa growth strategy, we have prioritised growing the size of our tourism sector. Cruise tourism delivers significant economic benefits to our province,” said Minister Winde.

Please see below this season’s cruise liner schedule for Cape Town: