Valletta Cruise Port had an unusually busy Sunday morning today, handling a record 6,500 passengers from just two ships.

The cruise port (formerly Viset) welcomed to Malta the 300-metre-long cruise ship Celebrity Solstice (122,000 tons), which arrived on its maiden call. The ship became the biggest one to berth at Pinto wharves 4 and 5 after the extension of the quay.

While most of its 3,000 passengers were disembarking, Valletta Cruise Port was also handling some 3,500 other passengers from the TUI ship Mein Schiff, which is home porting in Malta.

Valletta Cruise Port CEO John Portelli said this was an important day for Malta.

He said that cruise passenger arrivals in May had risen to 59,000 from 54,000 in May last year. Although the cruise port saw a drop in arrival earlier this year, he said arrivals were now expected to grow and the end-of-year figures would show growth over 2010.

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