Thirty-one times in 2023, the “Celestyal Crystal” cruise ship will dock at the port of Thessaloniki, which arrived around 8 am in the city – for the first time this year – coming from Kavala, and will depart around 7 pm for Volos.

As stated by an executive of “Kosmatos”, which is the agent of the cruise ship, 100 of its total 385 passengers, mostly Americans and Europeans, will visit Vergina, while the rest chose to tour the city, participating in the four-hour city tour that has been organized , with visits to attractions such as the White Tower, Agios Dimitrios, the Rotunda and the Castles.

The Celestyal Crystal’s next arrival in Thessaloniki is scheduled for April 12, 2023, when it will sail into the port of the city at eight in the morning, coming from Kavala and will depart again at 7 in the afternoon for Volos.

The Celestyal Crystal, based on today’s information on the website of OLTH SA, is the cruise ship, with the arrival of which in the port of Thessaloniki on December 17, this season will be completed. In its last scheduled arrival for this year, it will drop anchor in Thermaikos around eight in the morning coming from Piraeus and will depart at 3 in the afternoon for Izmir.

It is noted that for 2023, 69 cruise ship arrivals have been confirmed at the port of Thessaloniki, from 22 companies, five of which, in fact, included the city in their program for the first time. “Cruises are a dynamic product and precisely because of this fact there are fluctuations in the planning of arrivals at the port of the city”, pointed out an executive of OLTH SA, in response to a related question.

It is recalled that in 2022, 61 cruise ships docked at the port of Thessaloniki, up from 17 in 2021, while last year their arrival began earlier than any other year, on February 5, and the last “docked” on 12/22/2022.

From 2021, after 15 years, the port of Thessaloniki, having implemented all the necessary preventive measures for health and safety and having effectively responded to the recommendations of the national and regional health and civil protection authorities, was included in the list of home ports . In other words, it was designated as a port of departure and termination of a cruise, with the possibility of embarking and/or disembarking passengers.

Thus, the port of Thessaloniki is a port of embarkation and/or disembarkation of passengers on cruise ships, not only for local passengers, but also for those coming from abroad – both from nearby neighboring countries and from any country that has direct air connection with Thessaloniki – and wish to make use of the city’s new airport and hotel infrastructure.