There has yet to be any official announcements regarding the return of the cruise industry to Spain, apart from the Canary Islands, but it appears that some of the world’s leading cruise lines are all set to embark on international cruises and Palma is on the list of preferred destinations.
Royal Caribbean International is set to be the first major contemporary cruise line back in service in North America and Europe.
This week, Royal Caribbean International unveiled its big comeback.
Bookings are now being taken and the second largest passenger ship in the world, Harmony of the Seas, is currently scheduled to make her first post pandemic visit to Palma on July 4, according to Royal Caribbean.
She may not be the largest passenger cruise ship in the world, but she is the longest and has a maximum capacity for 6,780 passengers and 2,300 crew.
The 18-deck cruise liner is going to based in Barcelona this summer operating Mediterranean cruises which will take in Palma, Marseille, La Spezia, Civitavecchia and Naples during her seven night cruise.
The news will be welcomed by the association of tour guides, which is part of the Pimem federation of small to medium-sized businesses, which recently sent a letter to the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Victor Torres, asking him to “mediate” with the Balearic government and explain how the Canaries have managed the arrival of cruise ships.
The Balearic government has been criticised for “having refused to recognise the strategic importance of cruise tourism”. This has affected tourist guides as a professional group, the city of Palma and the whole of Mallorca. “The Canary Islands have known how to read the situation. Since October, the islands have been pleased to receive cruise traffic without any notable incidents, beyond four positive cases that were immediately controlled and treated by the cruise companies.”
The president of the tourist guides association, Gabriel Rosales, has stressed the need to “bring home” to the Balearic government the “reality of the shipping sector, which in the Canaries is operating safely, is generating work and is helping to reactivate tourism in a controlled manner”.