eCN eCruises news 146 ONLINE , the KeyCeuta to the Mediterranean eCN 146 Cruises news ONLINE eCruises news , the ONLINE KeyCeuta to the Mediterranean eCN / October 2019 CEO AND EDITOR IN CHIEF Virginia López Valiente eCN eCruises news 124 ONLINE EDITORS eCN Tomás Matesanz eCN eCruises news 122 eCruises news Laura Seco 120 ONLINE ONLINE [email protected] Protagonistas COLLABORATORS - EDITORS 2018 Patricia Castán the XXVdel Edición Mar - Del 2 al 5 de Mayo 2018 Arturo Paniagua , Félix González VigoAtlantic gate Fran Camino Mireia Cortés [email protected] DEPUTY DIRECTOR & COMMERCIAL Cristina López , the city [email protected] Valencia with no limits ADVERTISING and boundless freedom [email protected] PRODUCTION/LAYOUT Sergio Martos MARKETING - EVENTS Direct mailing to more than 70,000 Lola Díaz [email protected] email international addresses to ADMINISTRATION [email protected] potential cruise passengers, cruise Head Office Rosa de Lima, 1 companies, cruise executives, Edificio Alba 28290 Las Matas - Madrid Phone: +34 91 6306499 travel agents, ports, destinations and suppliers in the cruise industry. A product of e More information / [email protected] CruisesNews Media Group S.L. www.cruisesnews.es CRUISESNEWS PORTAL 2 eCRUISESNEWS CEUTA, THE KEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN • October 2019 eCRUISESNEWS CEUTA, THE KEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN • October 2019 3 eCRUISESNEWS / Ceuta, the Key to the Mediterranean , the KeyCeuta to the Mediterranean 4 eCRUISESNEWS CEUTA, THE KEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN • October 2019 eCRUISESNEWS CEUTA, THE KEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN • October 2019 5 euta is strategically locat- ed at the entrance of the Mediterranean, on one of C the busiest sea routes in the world, the Straits of Gibraltar. Ceuta is a remarkable enclave full of attrac- tions, starting with the famous Mount Hacho, one of the two columns of Her- cules, which had to be separated to unite the waters of the Mediterranean with those of the Atlantic Ocean. This characteristic of an entrance between two continents makes Ceuta an excep- tional city for its situation, for its cli- mate, for its cultural miscegenation, for the coexistence between the religions that live there and for being a piece of Europe embedded in Africa. The future of the port of Ceuta inexorably passes through a piece of evidence; the ex- istence of an entire continent that needs a range of services, taking advantage of pre- cisely that condition of Spanish and Europe- an nationality in Africa, not to mention other circumstances that drive its traffic, such as the tax advantages and its prices, which are comparatively cheaper than on the Iberian peninsula. Although Ceuta is frequently a fleeting crossing point for cruise passengers passing through the Straits on ships sailing towards other consolidated destinations such as the Mediterranean, shipowners should consider including Ceuta in their itineraries to discover it. Its situation between two seas, between two continents and the hospitality of its peo- ple gives it an added value that enriches any itinerary. The first cruise calls in Ceuta Ceuta has a long tradition as a transit stop- over on tourist cruises. Before World War II it had illustrious visitors such as the German ship Monte Rosa, which called in Ceuta in 1935, on a cruise that afterwards called at Barcelona. Another German ship, the Mil- waukee, also visited Ceuta on a cruise from Genoa to the Canary Islands. Its British com- petitors were also frequent visitors to Ceuta, with stopovers by various tourist cruise ships such as the Montclare, the Montrose, P&O Mongolia or Lamport & Holt Voltaire. In another landmark for the port, in August 1957, Cabo San Roque, the flagship of Ybarra 6 eCRUISESNEWS CEUTA, THE KEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN • October 2019 eCRUISESNEWS CEUTA, THE KEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN • October 2019 7 & Company, called at Ceuta on its inaugural cruise from Bilbao to Barcelona. More re- cently, in 1998, the Atlantic Festival itinerary, departing from Malaga on board the cruise ship Don Juan, of the Royal Hispania shipping company, also called at Ceuta. Ceuta has a long tradition as a cruise Calls during the 21st century port of call. In the 21st century, references to cruise ship calls are quite extensive: for example, on April 29, 2006, the Wind Surf ship, from the In Ceuta, cruise ships Wind Sail Cruises company, on a cruise be- dock just a short five- tween Cádiz and Malaga. That year her twin minute walk from the ship, Club Med 2 also called, docking in the city centre. west berth. That year marked a deep decline in activity, with only nine stops, compared to the thirteen ships that had docked in Ceuta The “Dock España” is in 2005. The change in the routes of many able to accommodate 75% of current cruise lines as well as the emerging econom- cruise ships. ic crisis hit the Ceuta enclave. However, Ceuta’s cruise activity rebound- ed again in 2007 with 20 calls. In October Carnival Corp’s of that year, Norwegian Dream arrived from shipping companies Norwegian Cruise Line. This vessel remained are Ceuta’s best for several years as the largest cruise ship to customers. calling at Ceuta. In 2008 there were 25 calls with 32,606 tour- ists. This year there was an important event: after the experience of the cruise ship Mr. Juan, Ceuta was once again included in a round itinerary from Malaga. The British cruise line, Thomson Cruises, included the city of Ceuta in several of its itineraries and its ships Thomson Destiny and Thomson Spirit, made nine calls in the Ceuta port. These two years, 2007 and 2008, constituted one of the most successful stages of Ceuta as a cruise port and became an achievement difficult to better. The trend changed in 2009. During that year Ceuta closed the year with only ten calls, something that had only occurred once in the previous ten years. The season began on March 14 with the arrival of the classic Saga Ruby ship and closed on December 28th with Amadea’s arrival, from the German operator Phoenix Reisen, which docked with more than 900 German tourists on board. Between these two there were three more calls in May, three in September and two in October, which involved more than 5,000 tourists. Among them, there was the Tahi- tian Princess, which was one of the first ref- erences of the well-known Princess Cruises shipping company, one of the leaders in the Premium sector. These 10 stops were one of the lowest figures since 1998, when 18 ships called at Ceuta. 8 eCRUISESNEWS CEUTA, THE KEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN • October 2019 The first decade of the 21st century closed with eight calls, once again a benchmark in the world of cruise ships: the Pacific Princess ship, which docked on December 10, 2010 for the first time in the port of Ceuta, hav- ing departed from Barcelona and heading towards Casablanca. Calls from the Portu- guese Funchal ship from Lisbon were also registered. The Arcalia Shipping Company, which afterwards went into bankruptcy due to the economic crisis, had sent its entire fleet to Ceuta. So, the Princess Danae, the Ocean Monarch and Athena had previously called at the Spanish port, demonstrating the attractiveness of Ceuta as destination for the Portuguese outbound tourist market and the viability of an itinerary that includes Lisbon and Ceuta. Given the strength of the Portu- guese capital as a home port, it would be very interesting to promote Ceuta for cruises departing from that port. eCRUISESNEWS CEUTA, THE KEY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN • October 2019 9 2011-2015: The effects of the crisis The impact of the economic crisis and the ar- rival of larger ships in the Mediterranean had a negative effect on Ceuta cruise traffic fig- ures in the first five years of this decade. Cu- riously, this decline coincided with a decline also accused of Malaga, which went from 322 calls in 2010 to 227 in 2015, its historical low. Gibraltar, Ceuta’s competitor, also had a decrease in traffic. Therefore, we were facing not a local but a regional phenomenon that affected the ports of the Straits, the result of pressure from new destinations such as Cart- agena, the decrease of long itineraries from the ports of the Gulf of León to the Canary Is- lands, and the crisis, which made shipowners send their ships to more consolidated desti- nations, such as the western Mediterranean or the Adriatic / Aegean. 2011 began with good news as Ceuta was in- cluded in a regular itinerary of MSC Cruises. MSC Melody offered calls in Ceuta on its 12- day cruises with departure from Genoa and calls in Alicante, Cartagena, Tangier, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Funchal, Ceuta, Palamós and back to Genoa. That year the first cruise call of the cruise ship Kristina Regina by the Finnish cruise line Kristina Cruises, was also registered. Another of Ceuta’s historical clients is the British cruise line Saga Cruises, which offers cruises for the elderly. In 2012 it maintained its fidelity to Ceuta with two calls by the Ruby Saga, the second of which came from Cartagena and continued to Casablanca. Its entire historical fleet, with ships such as the Saga Pearl II, or the Saga Rose, were regulars almost every year in Ceuta. Saga Cruises is currently immersed in a process of the com- plete renewal of its fleet, which includes the incorporation of two new vessels this year and in 2020, the Spirit of Discovery and the Spirit of Adventure. Several institutions, such as the Port Authority and the Ministry of De- velopment, are doing a remarkable job to make Ceuta an accessible city, without ar- chitectural barriers. This goal can be a good bet for cruise lines with a high percentage of retirees or, as they now say, “senior” passen- gers.