Portsmouth Worldwide Port wrapped up its summer season 2024 cruise season with Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Woman departing for the final time on September 29, 2024.
In a fond farewell, the 110,000-gross-ton Resilient Woman set off for Barcelona, Spain, with the final of Portsmouth, England’s complete of 25,000 passengers to sail this summer season season.
The ship confirmed its gratitude to its homeport with the town’s blue “Pompey” nickname illuminated as she sailed previous the town’s Victorious Pageant, one of many largest music festivals within the U.Ok., held yearly within the southern coastal metropolis.
The ship’s farewell concluded Portsmouth’s busiest summer season cruise season so far. The town welcomed over 25,000 passengers and hosted its largest-ever variety of turnaround calls, becoming for the port because it marked the primary anniversary of its carbon-neutral terminal extension.
The extension allowed the port to handle each giant cruise volumes and common ferry operations and helped Portsmouth function Resilient Woman’s homeport.
Dubbed Virgin’s “U.Ok. house port” now that it has hosted all three of the corporate’s manufacturers because it launched in 2021, Portsmouth estimates Resilient Woman generated £1.5 million from passenger spending throughout every go to.
Along with Resilient Woman’s common voyages, the summer season season additionally featured particular occasions, together with Virgin’s fiftieth anniversary with founder Richard Branson, and a comedy-themed cruise headlined by Russell Howard.
The high-profile occasions helped additional spotlight Portsmouth’s function as a key vacation spot for Virgin Voyages.
“Each cruise name to the port is extremely valued and an incredible enhance to the town,” stated Cllr Steve Pitt, chief of Portsmouth Metropolis Council.
“I do know loads of our residents have been fortunate sufficient to get pleasure from Resilient Woman’s voyages from Portsmouth to Europe this summer season, and her sailings are at all times a formidable sight within the harbor,” he stated.
Wanting forward, Portsmouth is about to proceed its partnership with Virgin Voyages, with Scarlet Woman scheduled to return in 2025.
The port can be making ready to offer shoreside electrical energy for future Virgin ships, supporting the town’s efforts to reinforce its environmental credentials and proceed its progress.
Due to the U.Ok. government-funded Sea Change undertaking, the port will turn into the nation’s first zero-emission port by spring 2025.
Cruises Proceed as Port Prepares for Inexperienced Transformation
Whereas celebrating a powerful summer season, the port, positioned 20 miles southeast of bigger sister port Southampton, will nonetheless see exercise into the top of 2024 because the homeport to the English-based Saga Cruise’s Spirit of Journey and Spirit of Discovery, each of which might accommodate 999 passengers.
The 58,250-gross-ton ships are remaining to supply fall and early winter voyages from Portsmouth to the Canary Islands.
The British-owned Fred Olsen Cruise Line can be using the port for its Northern Lights cruises. The cruise line’s 61,849-gross-ton, 1,360-passenger Borealis is providing a number of roundtrip voyages from Portsmouth to Norwegian locations.
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The port can be making ready to offer shoreside electrical energy for future cruise ships, supporting the town’s efforts to reinforce its environmental credentials and proceed its progress.
The port is about to turn into the U.Ok.’s first zero-emission port by spring 2025, due to the U.Ok. government-funded Sea Change undertaking. Securing £19.8 million in grants, the port will permit docked ships to change off their engines and depend on renewable power, considerably decreasing emissions.
