Cruise Navigation 2019 announced open in the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg
28 April 2019
Today, April 28, at 7:00 am, this year’s first cruise ship bearing the symbolic name “Poesia” of MSC Cruises, an Italian cruise company, arrived in the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg. Cruise for tourists began and will end in Germany, in the port of Warnemünde. In total, 2612 passengers arrived on board the ship. All tourists were welcomed with the solemn sounds of the orchestra and performance of a folk ensemble. On arrival, passengers received souvenirs with views of St. Petersburg.
The ceremony was opened with a greeting speech given by E. V. Pankevich, the Chairman of the St. Petersburg Tourism Development Committee, upon which he congratulated the five-millionth cruise passenger, who happened to be a German family surprised by such a warm and welcoming reception. The administration of St. Petersburg together with the Passenger Port of St. Petersburg invited guests to the stage, where they were congratulated on the proud “five-millionth” status. The guests received souvenirs with symbols of the city and the port. Also, the tourists were granted a nice opportunity to go on a free individual sightseeing tour.
V.A. Kashirin, CEO of Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg “Marine Façade” PLC, congratulated everyone on the opening of the navigation season 2019, which this year coincided with the Easter holiday and wished everyone peace, happiness and, of course, a successful cruise season. The opening of navigation in the Port was marked by ringing the symbolic shipbell by the Tourism Development Committee Chairman and CEO of “PP of SPb MF” PLC. K. A. Chebykin, the Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, also greeted the guests with kind wishes noting the importance of cruise tourism for St. Petersburg.
State regulatory authorities, including the State border checkpoint at the seaport Passenger port of Saint Petersburg did their job well and smoothly by ensuring the organized passage of foreign tourists, guests of the event, as well as media representatives. Well-arranged cooperation with representatives of state regulatory authorities guarantees the safety of passengers, allows timely detection and suppression of violations, as well as the organized passage of arriving tourists through border and customs control points.
After the official part of the event, guests of honor, as well as media representatives, proceeded with a tour on board Poesia cruise liner. Visitors were invited to the upper deck of the ship, which opened a unique view of the liner itself with an open-air recreation area, and the city with a panorama of the new sports stadium and Lakhta center.
On Board, captain Lauro Maresca and representatives of the host city of St. Petersburg exchanged gifts on the occasion of cruise navigation opening. E. A. Ilyin, the head of the Vasileostrovsky district of St. Petersburg Administration, noted the importance of presence in Vasileostrovsky district of such a large-scale facility as the Passenger Port, as well as the opportunity to observe the largest cruise liners, which become a real decoration of the area at the time of harboring in the port. E. D. Grigoriev, Chairman of the External Relations Committee, noted the unique opportunity of a large number of tourists to see the sea capital from the expanses of water thanks to the arrival of such vessels as Poesia. The captain of the vessel expressed his desire to continue cooperation in relation to the reception of tourists, and also told about the big plans of MSC Cruises to replenish the company’s fleet with a new vessel every year until 2026.
Poesia can be observed in the port for two days, the next port of arrival will be Helsinki. Let us remind you that in 2019, 10 ships will enter the Passenger port of St. Petersburg for the first time, decorating the berths of the port and our city with their presence. A total of 262 vessels and more than 625,000 passengers are expected within the 2019 navigation, which will last until October 20, which is again a record figure in the history of the port in terms of the number of passengers.
Passenger Port of St. Petersburg congratulates everyone on the beginning of passenger navigation-2019 and wishes you fair winds and following seas!
