‘Viking Sea’, ‘Azura’ and ‘MSC Magnifica’ all arrived this morning.
The Port of Funchal receives three cruise ships this morning, which arrived just over an hour and a half apart, all with a short stay, but throughout the day they will boost tourism, especially in the city.
The first to arrive was the ‘Azura’, a P&O Cruises ship, coming from Lanzarote, in the Canaries, returning to that archipelago, leaving at 9:30 pm, heading to Las Palmas. The ship has been in operation since April 2010, always with the same name, and can carry up to 3,597 passengers (maximum capacity) and 1,226 crew, along its 290 meters long and 36 meters wide.
Then the ‘MSC Magnifica’, from MSC Crociere, arrived, which will stay until the end of the afternoon (6pm), coming from Santa Cruz de Tenerife and heading to Philipsburg, the cruise port of Saint Marteen, in the Caribbean. On this transatlantic journey, the ship measuring almost 394 meters long and 32 meters wide, also launched in 2010, can carry up to 3,013 passengers and 987 crew members.
Finally, the ‘Viking Sea’ arrived, which docked at the north pier already after 8:00 am, being a smaller ship (227 meters long and 29 meters wide) and more recent (2014), it also has smaller capacity, around of 930 passengers and 550 crew. It also comes from Spain, but mainland, more precisely from Cadiz and also heads towards the other side of the Atlantic and, according to the Madeira Port Administration, also to Philipsburg, the Dutch part of that Caribbean island.
Apart from these ships this Wednesday, November 8th, the Port of Funchal is expected to receive another 39 calls this month over the next 22 days.