Seatrade Cruise News is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Albatros is coming to Kiel for the Christmas market

bee69f341e69cd5a9709e4d58c27f737_XL
Albatros will be back at the Ostseekai Terminal this weekend (Photo: Seehafen Kiel)
A short pre-Christmas cruise is bringing Phoenix Seereisen’s Albatros to Kiel on Saturday. The ship is scheduled to berth at the Ostseekai Terminal, close to the city centre.

Passengers on this fully-booked winter cruise will visit Kiel’s Christmas market and have the opportunity to take excursions into the surrounding area.

'Winter cruises have a lot of potential, particularly since the Baltic is a relatively calm place to travel. I am sure that in future we will welcome more frequent cruise ships in the cold season,' said Dirk Claus, md of the Port of Kiel.

Ferry companies have been successfully marketing short cruises in winter for many years. The north German Christmas markets are traditionally very popular with Scandinavian cruise travellers. Color Line runs services to Kiel from Oslo in Norway while Stena Line offers winter trips from Gothenburg in Sweden.

The five-day Albatros cruise takes passengers from Hamburg through the Kiel Canal and stops first at Kiel.

'We are especially pleased that our Advent and Christmas Markets cruises have proved popular with so many guests,' said Michael Schulze, voyages director at Phoenix Reisen. 'The winter landscape trip through the Kiel Canal, the pre-Christmas spirit at attractive destinations along the Baltic coast, Kiel with its distinctive feeling for Advent as well as a freshly spruced-up MS Albatros—all these have been reasons why so many guests have chosen to come along.'

After Kiel’s Christmas market closes its doors on Saturday evening, the ship will depart at around 10 p.m. for Copenhagen. It then will visit Wismar and Lübeck before heading back to Hamburg on Dec. 23.