In September, forty international cruise ships are scheduled to stop over in Palma. These will represent a virtual doubling of the number in August (23) - a sign of the reactivation of the cruise tourism market.
The president of the consignees commission, Beatriz Orejudo, says that more and more stopovers are being registered and that there has been no infection on ships since they were allowed to return in June. "There is great demand for Palma. This explains the progressive growth in the arrival of cruise ships. The data improve month by month, and we hope that there will be a winter cruise season. This would be great news for the economy of the island and especially for Palma."
Of the forty stopovers scheduled for next month, seven are TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff ships and another seven are Aida ships. With four calls each are the Costa Smeralda, Sea Cloud Hussar, Norwegian, and Harmony of the Seas. The other ships are Europa 2, Celebrity Apex, Azamara Journey, Golden Horizon and Rotterdam. On September 19, 20 and 30 there will be three ships in port.
Orejudo explains that "nothing is left to chance" with Covid. There is exhaustive monitoring during cruises, as there is when the ships dock - by the foreign health service. Cruise operators have their own insurance to cover any possible admission to hospital, but the success of the monitoring is shown by the fact that there hasn't been any infection since June.
Restaurant and retail associations are meanwhile calling for controls of passengers when they are in Palma to be relaxed. The number of passengers has been growing, but this has resulted in little economic benefit. The associations note that many businesses depend on these passengers in winter.