STA, 20 May 2019 - The peak cruise ship season has started at the Slovenian seaside, with some 2,500 cruise passengers sailing into the Koper harbour last Saturday and almost 5,000 being expected this week.
MS Mein Schiff 6, which is part of the TUI Cruises' fleet and carries more than 1,000 crew members in addition to the passengers, arrived in Slovenia's only sea port for the first time on Saturday.
Being almost 300 metres long and over 40 metres wide, Mein Schiff 6 is one of the biggest ships the harbour has ever welcomed, said the Koper municipality.
To mark the occasion, the municipality's representatives as well as representatives of the port operator Luka Koper met with the ship's captain.
The ship is one of the fleet's new vessels, being launched in January 2017, and it embarked on its maiden voyage in June 2017.
It offers mid-priced cruises, accessible to a wider range of customers, with a few suites designed for more high-end passengers.
Koper expects to welcome three cruise ships this week, including MSC Musica on Tuesday, Marella Discovery on Wednesday and Viking Star on Friday.
MSC Musica, carrying some 2,000 passengers, will sail from Venice and later continue its journey to Zadar in Croatia.
Marella Discovery visited Koper already at the beginning of May and will make a stop in the Slovenian harbour again during its voyage to Venice, carrying some 1,800 passengers.
Viking Star, on the other hand, is a luxury cruise ship, having space for almost 1,000 passengers.