“Celestyal Olympia” becomes the first cruise ship to dock in Thessaloniki this year

At 9.30 in the morning, the cruise ship “Celestyal Olympia” sailed to the port of Thessaloniki, marking the beginning for this year’s tourist season and transporting 50 passengers of various nationalities from Lavrio, who are already touring the city.

“After one in the afternoon, another 180 passengers will join the cruise ship, of which 70-80 Greeks and the rest from the Balkans, specifically from Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria,” naval agent Kyriakos Kalis told AMNA, noting that the cruise ship will depart at 18.00 for the island of Mykonos.

For the first time after 15 years, the port of Thessaloniki becomes a port of start and end of cruise (home port) this year, while “Celestyal Olympia” and “Celestyal Crystal” of “Celestyal Cruises” will “dock” a total of 14 times this year. It is recalled that last year, the only cruise ship that had anchored in Thessaloniki was “World Explorer”, on 26/9, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Celestyal Olympia” will visit Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, Agios Nikolaos in Crete, Rhodes, and Limassol in Cyprus. Those who board and disembark in Thessaloniki will have the opportunity to visit Athens as well. The new route is called “Mythical Archipelago”.

According to the cruise ship arrival program posted on its website by Thessaloniki Port Authority, the “Celestyal Olympia” in July and August, will dock in the port of the city four times, starting from 6/7 and until 24 / 8, with arrival and departure times the same as in June, while it will also sail from Lavrio to Thessaloniki, from where it will depart for Mykonos.

For September, so far no cruise has been planned with a station in the port of Thessaloniki, while for October, “Celestyal Crystal” will make its arrival again, on 17 and 27/10 from 09: 00-20 : 00 from Lavrio to Kavala and 09: 00-18.30 from Canakale to Volos respectively.

The season, as shown by the posted cruise program, will end in November, when the “Celestyal Crystal” is scheduled to dock in the port of Thessaloniki three times in total, on 3, 10 and 14 November. On November 3 and 10 it will depart at 18.30 for Volos, while on 14/11 it will depart at 20.00 for Kavala.