Carnival Corporation, the parent company of ultra-luxury cruise line Seabourn, has celebrated the official opening of Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal – the new main cruise port in the emirate.
Several of Carnival Corporation’s executives joined developer, Shamal Holding, for a walk-through of the facility.
Among Carnival’s brands that will utilise the facility are Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises. With the arrivals of Costa Firenze and AIDAbella from the company’s Italy-based Costa Cruises and Germany-based AIDA Cruises brands, the official opening was also marked by two passenger cruise ships visiting the Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal for the first time, coinciding with the start of the cruise season and the ships’ homeporting seasons from Dubai.
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The opening represents a significant milestone in realising Dubai’s goal of becoming the world’s most visited city, underscored with the October launch of the highly popular Expo 2020 in Dubai. Through Costa Cruises’ partnership as a Gold Sponsor of the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, cruise guests are provided with exciting shore excursion options to explore the World Exhibition.
As the region’s first-ever dedicated, twin-terminal cruise port, Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal is capable of accommodating two large cruise ships simultaneously. The facility spans over 120,000 square metres and includes two purpose-built terminal buildings that offer passengers and crew a safe, comfortable and seamless embarkation and disembarkation experience. The state-of-the-art terminals are equipped with four Seaport Passenger Boarding Bridges that can simultaneously support the full turnaround of the largest class of cruise ships in the industry.
Michael Thamm, group CEO of Costa Group and Carnival Asia said; “The two terminals stand as a tribute to the remarkable appeal of Dubai and the Arabian Gulf as a cruise destination, and we look forward to working with Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal and its community partners to make Dubai Harbour a highly efficient and customer-friendly operation, while facilitating new tourism opportunities through cruising in the region.”
“We’re delighted to see our partnership with Carnival Corporation and its brands hit another significant milestone as today we welcomed two extraordinary cruise ships to Dubai Harbour, the largest standalone dedicated twin-cruise terminal cente\re in the eastern hemisphere. It is exciting to see so many thousands of people enter the city through this stunning seafront district, the newest entry point to Dubai, which is already considered to be the ideal gateway to the region for cruise ships from around the world.”
Located in the heart of Dubai, the new twin-terminal facility is positioned for international visitors travelling in and out of Dubai. Dubai Harbour’s backdrop, vista and accessible location are combined with a wide range of living, retail and hospitality choices, as well as berthing facilities, to comprise the region’s most unique lifestyle offering – including experiences such as Dubai Harbour Yacht Club, Dubai Harbour Pier Club, Dubai Harbour Marinas, Skydive Dubai and Zero Gravity.
Together, six brands from Carnival Corporation – AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (UK), Princess Cruises and Seabourn – will visit Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal by 2023 and in total, these brands are expected to make 90 calls to the new twin-terminal cruise port by then.