5511 cruise tourists arrive in Dubai

The ships - Queen Victoria, Seven Sea Voyager and Rotterdam - docked at the cruise terminal in the Port Rashid complex and were accorded a traditional welcome by the DTCM officials and representatives of their tour operators and shipping agents.

The cruise tourists hailed from the US, British and EU member-countries.

For the Rotterdam, it was a maiden call in Dubai. The imposing ship arrived from the Indian city of Mumbai and sailed to Muscat in Oman. It had 865 passengers and 618 crew members. A grand welcome was accorded to the vessel and its occupants and crew members.

The Seven Sea Voyager left for Fujairah after the Dubai call, while Queen Victoria sailed to the Jordanian port city of Aqaba after arriving from Mumbai, India.

DTCM see Dubai benefiting immensely from the cruise industry in the coming years.

Operated by the DTCM, the Dubai Cruise Terminal was officially inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on 26th March 2001 at the state-of-the-art Port Rashid complex.

From a mere eight calls by cruise liners in 1996, the facility played host to thousands of cruise tourists since then.

In the year 2008, the Dubai cruise facility received 82 ships with 182,030 passengers, while in the year 2009 it is expected to receive 101 ships with 316,043 passengers. In the year 2010, Dubai is expected to host 99 ships with 383,432 passengers.

Cruise terminal is presently operating from a temporary facility comprising of giant tents measuring 1800 square metres each. The facility has now access to five berths measuring a total of approx 1000 meters.

All existing services provided in the earlier cruise terminal continue to be provided such as the money exchange, post office, duty free arcade, gift shop, jewellery shop, internet facilities, café and a dates shop.

There is no firm date as to when the next temporary cruise terminal will be ready, but it is expected to be operational for the next cruise season starting September 2009.