First cruise ship of the season comes to Corfu

The arrival of cruise ships at Corfu Port has begun earlier than any other year. The small cruise ship Arethusa arrived at 7 a.m. on Friday, marking the commencement of this year's season. On board the cruise ship are 45 Americans who have already boarded buses for their guided tours. The excursions will take place at Kanoni, Mon Repos, and the old town.

The cruise ship set off from Preveza, and its next destination is Agios Saranda in neighbouring Albania. Its departure is scheduled for 5 a.m. on Saturday (3/2).

Despite being a small vessel, the early arrival at Corfu Port in non-tourist months is an optimistic sign. In total, 520 cruise ship arrivals are expected by the end of the year, concluding on December 29 once again with the Arethusa.

However, the schedule of ship arrivals is subject to changes during the period, either through the arrival of additional ships or the modification or cancellation of a scheduled arrival.

For the month of February, nine arrivals are anticipated, with seven of them once again being the Arethusa. The remaining two will be larger cruise ships, namely the Reinaissance (15/2) with a capacity of 1,258 passengers and the Sun Princess (21/2) with a capacity of 5,189 passengers.

From May

From May onwards, there is a gradual increase in arrivals, particularly in the months from May to October. The presence of cruise ships during the extremities of the tourist season, namely February - March and November – December, is encouraging. Although the number of arrivals is smaller during these months, they still remain in double-digit figures.

Furthermore, Corfu's strong "brand name" has turned the island into a strongt attraction for cruise visitors, which is gaining momentum once again following the pandemic. In 2023, the island had 353 cruise ship arrivals and 667,182 passengers. In 2022, essentially the first year post-global health crisis, there were 527,609 cruise passengers. The previous year (2021), when pandemic measures were in effect, Corfu Port welcomed 200 cruise ships with 234,699 visitors. 2019 was a record-breaking year with 420 arrivals and 767,673 passengers.