Every year, the city of Hamburg welcomes well over 100 cruise ships.

In August 2012, visitors will be flocking to the vibrant city on the banks of the River Elbe to experience a spectacular event: the Hamburg Cruise Days.

On one thrilling weekend, seven famous cruise ships will be calling in on the port, and themed islands along the dockside will let visitors experience the world of cruises on dry land. Every evening, the Blue Port lighting installation will plunge the port into a magical blue light.

The Hamburg Cruise Days take place on three days, from 17 until 19 August 2012. The event site extends along the River Elbe for several kilometers.

As in previous years, the stars of the event are the ships. These seven cruise ships are expected to call in on Hamburg:

• AIDAluna (AIDA Cruises)

• AIDAmar (AIDA Cruises)

• The MS DEUTSCHLAND (Reederei Peter Deilmann GmbH)

• MS/ASTOR (TransOcean)

• MS COLUMBUS 2 (Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten)

• MSC Lirica (MSC Kreuzfahrten)

• Queen Mary 2 (Cunard Line)

Highlights on the water include the Hamburg Cruise Night on Friday evening with a fleet of party ships on the Elbe and the giant Hamburg Cruise Days Parade on Saturday evening: starting from around 9pm, five giant cruise ships will sail back down the River Elbe accompanied by a fleet of smaller vessels.

In addition to the popular attractions from previous years, the organisers are planning several new features: in 2012 the waterfront in Hamburg will be transformed into a Cruise World which will allow visitors to experience all the things that make cruises so special: sport and spas, fashion and design, a themed world specially built for children, a casino by the waterside and culinary highlights prepared by some of the city’s top restaurants. The entertainment programmes of the cruise ships will be performed on special show stages and a historical “Tüdel un Tampen” bazaar will be adding an extra dash of maritime flair.

In 2012, as in previous years, the harbour will again be turned into the Blue Port: light artist Michael Batz will be illuminating around one hundred objects in and around the harbour, bathing the entire event in a magical blue light. Buildings and objects that will glow in a deep, magical blue after dark include the Köhlbrand bridge, the Michel church, The Hamburg Cruise Days event is organised by uba gmbh und red roses in cooperation with Hamburg Marketing GmbH.

the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, which is still under construction, and probably also the Hanseatic Trade Center and the train viaduct between the stations Baumwall and Landungsbrücken. On their cruises prior to the Hamburg Cruise

Days, the cruise ships will exhibit small blue, illuminated models of Hamburg’s iconic Köhlbrandbrücke, thus spreading the message of the Blue Port in Hamburg around the entire world.

The First Mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz, emphasizes the event’s significance for the city: “The third Hamburg Cruise Days and the Blue Port will be even bigger and better than in previous years. The event underscores the outstanding position that Hamburg occupies as a key destination for the cruise industry. As a cosmopolitan city, we greatly look forward to hosting an event with such an international cachet as the Hamburg Cruise Days.”

The organisers of the Hamburg Cruise Days are the event agency uba gmbh and the communication agency red roses communications GmbH. uba and red roses presented a joint concept that won them the contract in a European tender held by Hamburg Marketing GmbH. “We want to anchor the Hamburg Cruise Days emotionally in people’s hearts. The people of Hamburg, the tourists, Germany and the world: they will all love the Hamburg Cruise days”, is how Uwe Bergmann (managing director uba) and Katja Derow (red roses communications director) describe the character of the event.