On Friday, 27/08/2021, Alexandria Port received World Navigator Cruise ship coming from Heraklion Port in Greece, with 178 passengers and crew on board.
Alexandria Port announced that all efforts made by the General Authority of Alexandria Port were successful in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects and resuming the cruise calls for the first time since March 2020, in order to join a limited number of ports that are witnessing the return of cruise ship calls.
Thereafter, on Monday, 30/08/2021, Alexandria Port received Blue Sapphire cruise ship, coming from Antalya Port in Turkey, with 455 passengers of different nationalities and 197 crew members. This is the first call of 13 calls scheduled to come to Alexandria Port.
The tourists’ groups visited tourist sites both in Alexandria and Cairo cities as part of a one-day program before moving to Port-Said Port to complete the ship’s route.
Alexandria Port implemented precautionary measures that are equal to its counterpart from the European ports to face the COVID-19 pandemic, following the membership of Alexandria Port in the Post COVID – 19 Committee of Experts formed by MedCruise Association.
In addition, Alexandria Port Authority has acted with promptitude and in accordance with the global current situation regarding the pandemic, raising the level of readiness at the cruise terminal and its docks to safely receive tourists & passengers, and preparing all the necessary faculties to ensure the ability to deal with the increasing number of tourists visiting the port.
Within the coming of the autumn season, it is expected that the cruise ship calls’ frequency and tourists’ numbers to rise, as this time period is one of the main seasons for cruise ship arrivals.
Hence, Alexandria Port Authority is steadily following the guidelines in the Port Management plans for the COVID-19 crisis, according to the European Maritime Security Agency (EMSA), which MedCruise recommends as the main reference for port resuming plans.
These calls are the beginning of a chain of scheduled calls that are expected to arrive in the Egyptian ports, especially Alexandria Port, for different cruising itineraries, which will be announced in the coming period.
The return of cruise calls to Egyptian Ports is the result of fruitful cooperation and continuous coordination between the Ministry of Transport and Tourism, which resulted in achieving this exceptional boom despite the current situation.
