Like last year, the AidaBlu has inaugurated the new 2023 cruise season in the Sardinian network ports.
The ship, coming from Barcelona, moored at Molo Rinascita this morning at 7.30am, with some 2230 passengers on board. After two years of crisis and one of gradually getting back on target, this year’s cruise season promises to be a turn for the better for the island’s market.
Guided tours of the city of Cagliari and excursions to historical and cultural sites in South Sardinia have been organized for the passengers on board, mainly Germans.
AidaBlu’s is the first of 118 scheduled calls in the island capital’s port, for a season that runs from today until 24th December. The ship, together with the Stella and the group’s new flagship, the Cosma, will be in the port of Cagliari with 17 calls, plus 33 by the Toscana, also belonging to the Costa group.
The next call, scheduled for 28th March, will be the British group P&O’s Azura, a ship in the luxury segment. Together with the calls and overnights of the le Ponant and Silversea groups, this will mark a gradual growth in the south of the island too in 2023.
Next month, the AidaBlu will move to the port of Olbia for four consecutive calls (one a week) at the beginning of a season that, according to the latest updates, is expected to bring at least 50 ships to the Isola Bianca.
“Today’s arrival at the port of Cagliari, the only one in the month of February in the network ports, kicks off a season of realignment and, based on the forecasts on the rebalancing of the ship occupancy factor, surpassing the numbers recorded in the years prior to the crisis,” explains Massimo Deiana, President of Sardinia Port Network Authority. “We are still in the adjustment phase of the sailing schedules forecasted a few weeks ago, with variations on dates, some cancellations, but also additional calls.“We will attempt to consolidate them as early as the second half of March on the occasion of the Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami, the first international trade fair event of the year, which will see us resume face-to-face meetings with cruise companies and all the stakeholders in the sector.”
Translation by Giles Foster
