It is about the “Celestyal Journey”, whose next stop is Kavala
At eight in the evening, after almost ten hours of being in its port Thessalonikideparts for its next destination, Kavala, the “Celestyal Journey” cruise ship, which made its maiden appearance in the city last month on September 3.
In particular, as pointed out speaking to APE-MBE by the executive of “Kosmatos”, which is the agent of the aforementioned cruise ship, the “Celestyal Journey” docked at 9:30 in the morning at the port of Thessaloniki, bringing with it a total of 779 passengers, of which 67 they got off the ship and one got on. The majority of Celestyal Journey passengers are Americans, more than 350, and several Canadians and Greeks.
The aforementioned cruise ship will call at the port of Thessaloniki one more time, on December 17, and with its arrival the cruise will bring a curtain this year for OLTH SA, while in total its approaches this year amount to seven.
It is recalled that in total this year at the port of Thessaloniki the arrivals of cruise ships amount to 69 and for 2024, so far, they are formed at 67, as can be seen from the relevant data posted on the website of ΟΛTH SA and specifically at the address https://www.thpa.gr/el/cruise/.
Features of “Celestyal Journey”
The “Celestyal Journey”, which has been completely renovated, with the investment reaching 26 million euros, of which 16 million euros actually “fell” in the Greek economy, is a small and medium-sized cruise ship, i.e. 219.3 meters, and as Celestyal Cruises CEO Chris Theofilidis pointed out during an event on board today, this has 50% more capacity than the Celestyal Crystal it replaced and 280% more balcony cabins and suites.
In particular, the Celestyal Journey has, among other things, 630 cabins and can accommodate 1,260 passengers, unlike the Celestyal Crystal which had a capacity of 960 passengers.
40% of the Celestyal company’s clientele, as Mr. Theofilidis pointed out, are Americans and the company contributes to the Greek economy an amount of 136 million euros and serves approximately 110,000 passengers, who make 458,000 visits to the Greek ports, the company’s destinations.
In 28 the approaches of Celestyal for 2024 to the port of Thessaloniki
The company is the only homeport in Thessaloniki and for two years it has been giving a vote of confidence to the city, Mr. Theofilidis pointed out and mentioned that in 2024 there will be 28 approaches to the city’s port.
We invest in infrastructure
The executive president of the company, Athanasios Liagos, mentioned the strategy drawn up by the management of OLTH in order for the port of Thessaloniki to be an open, attractive place for cruises, underlining the importance of the investments being made there.
“You invest in a product and we invest in infrastructure, modern infrastructure to welcome modern cruise ships”, noted Mr. Liagos, noting that 50% of cruises in Thessaloniki are homeports, which means that they contribute in the local economy.
For the new “Mega Alexander” passenger station, he pointed out that it includes an automated Extra Schengen passenger entry/exit system, as well as the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) which helps the destination’s performance in terms of sustainability.
“We acquired Celestyal Journey in May 2023 and have made extensive upgrades to the technical equipment, living spaces, public spaces, and open decks. We are doubly proud, because under difficult weather conditions of last summer, this difficult project was completed in Greece. From Greek crews from Greek technicians demonstrating that in our country there is significant know-how”, underlined Captain Angelos Vasilakos.
The deputy governor of Tourism, Christina Goula, addressed the event, referring to the strategic position of the city’s port, and the deputy mayor of Finance, Sokratis Dimitriadis, underlining the importance of extroversion for the city.
