Up to 83 Cruise Ships Coming This Season

The cruise ship AIDAsol is expected to arrive in Reykjavík today, Morgunblaðið reports. It was scheduled to arrive at Skarfabakki wharf in Sundahöfn harbor at 11:30 am. The 71,000-GT-ship, owned by AIDA Cruises, can carry up to 2,174 passengers. It is the second cruise ship to arrive this season. The first one was Borealis, which arrived in mid-March. AIDAsol will sail from Reykjavík to Akureyri, where it is expected Saturday at 8 am.

The number of cruise ship arrivals will gradually increase in May, with the season peaking in July and August. At present, 83 cruise ships and 200 arrivals have been booked for Reykjavík this season, but it won’t be clear until later this summer if all of them will actually arrive. They have the capacity to carry a total of nearly 215,000 passengers.

“The booking ratio for the ships this summer will be about 80 percent, meaning that this summer could be similar to that of 2019, provided bookings are confirmed and nothing unexpected happens,” states Erna Kristjánsdóttir, director of marketing for the Associated Icelandic Ports.

April 30, the polar cruise ship Le Commandant Charcot is expected in Reykjavík. It will be the first cruise ship to arrive in Reykjavík that is powered by liquified natural gas (LNG).

It is owned by the French shipping company Compagnie de Ponant, which describes it as “the very first luxury hybrid electric polar exploration ship powered by liquified natural gas” and “one of the most advanced polar vessels at sea today.