More than 300 Russian passengers - 160 in, 169 out – joined or disembarked Costa neoRomantica during a call to the Russian Far East port on May 30.
The itinerary started from Yokohama on May 26 and then continued in Kobe. After Vladivostok, the cruise stopped in Hakodate, Tokyo, Kobe, Jeju and Kagoshima before finishing in Tokyo at June 9.
After Japanese, Russians were the second largest source market on the cruise. Many expressed their delight in being able to board a cruise ship in their home town noted Olesya Sosnovskaya,
deputy commercial director Vladivostok Sea Terminal, operator of the cruise terminal.
Spectrum of the Seas partial turnaround
The next opportunity for Russian passengers to take a cruise from Vladivostok will be in September on Spectrum of the Seas which will sail from Shanghai to Vladivostok visiting Maizuru (Kyoto) and Fukuoka.
According to CLIA, the Russian source market tallied about 78,000 passengers in 2018 with 35% year-on-year growth.
With a total population of more than 140m and about 25m in Siberian and Far Eastern Federal districts) there is potential for Vladivostock to grow as a home port for either full or partial turnarounds.
Costa expands Vladivostock calls
Costa is already ahead of the game featuring three round trip 8-day cruises in June 2019 when Russians will be able to start and finish their voyage in Vladivostok. Itineraries will also include South Korean ports of Sokcho, Busan and Fukuoka, Maizuru (Kyoto) and Kanazawa in Japan.
In Soviet Union times and after in the 1990s domestic shipping companies operated several itineraries which started and finished in Vladivostock sailing north to Sakhalin island and Kamchatka peninsula and south to Japan, Korea, Philippines etc. which carried locally sourced passengers. These cruises stopped in the 2000s due to economic slowdown in Russia.
Fly cruise, drive cruise opportunities
According to Sosnovskaya, there is huge potential for fly+cruise and drive+cruise operations through Vladivostok targetting North Eastern Chinese provinces (Heilongjiang and Jilin) which have a population of about 70m but do not have seaport access in their own region.
Considering these prospects Vladivostok Sea Terminal has expanded the border check point area creating more space for immigration control and enhanced services for passengers.
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