Southampton To Open Fifth Cruise Terminal For Summer 2021

Good news for British cruisers, especially those looking to enjoy a no-fly cruise next year, as Southampton is to open a fifth cruise terminal.

The new cruise terminal will open in summer 2021 and has been developed in partnership with MSC Cruises.

The new terminal will become the home-port of MSC Magnifica for her season full season departing from the British port.

Costing a total of £55 million, the terminal will use roof-mounted solar power and will also have shore power installed to boost sustainability, allowing ships to plug in when in port.

MSC Cruises has also confirmed that there will be at least one ship porting from the UK for the duration of the partnership, as well as several of the company's large fleet of 17 ships visiting the UK.

The partnership comes as MSC Cruises plans to increase its presence in the UK market, along with its popularity from UK and Irish passengers.

"Whilst we’ve always had loyal passengers from the UK and Ireland, over the last five years we’ve been on a real journey in the UK market," said Antonio Paradiso, MD MSC Cruises UK & Ireland.

"We were delighted to see such strong organic growth which leads to our first ever full season sailing from the UK in 2018, followed by the naming ceremony of MSC Bellissima in the port of Southampton bringing guests from around the world to the city to celebrate the milestone event in 2019. We ended 2019 with the most successful year of sales ever in the UK & Ireland, something we are incredibly proud of.

"MSC Cruises is serious about the UK market and now more than ever we believe in the potential here and making this long term commitment to bringing even more passengers to Southampton is evidence of that.

"In 2017 we invested in a new office in the UK, we then focused on growing our teams and putting the right expertise in place to ensure we can provide the best possible support to our passengers and our travel agent partners, and now we are really proud to be further investing in the UK cruise industry at this incredibly important time for both the industry and the UK economy in having a home for our ships here in the UK."

ABP Southampton director Alastair Welch added: “We’re very pleased to announce this major advance in our cruise infrastructure at the port, delivering further access to Southampton for the industry, while supporting our commitment to accelerate improvements in local air quality.

“This investment is a huge vote of confidence in the future of cruise in Southampton and we’re excited to be at the forefront of a growing industry.”