“2017 was a fantastic year for the port in terms of cruises and passengers but 2018 will be even better,” said Bernardo Trevisani, from the Porto Convention Bureau.

Porto will see a record-breaking cruise season, he said, with 115,000 guests and 108 ships, including 16 maiden calls highlighted by first-time visits from Marella Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line.

“This will be an 8 percent rise in calls and a 20 percent rise in passengers over last year’s record numbers,” said Trevisani.

Next year is also trending well, he continued, with six maiden calls on the books including the Brilliance of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International.

Serving Porto, the Port of Leixões is located just three kilometers from the city, and has two dedicated cruise terminals. A new terminal recently opened in 2015 catering to big ships, with a 340-meter-long pier.

“The port is perfect to link up for cruises in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe and with the growing trends towards shorter duration cruises of four or five days,” Trevisani said. “Served by one of the best international airports in Europe and accessible through a number of different air routes, Porto is within easy reach of the major worldwide hubs and the city also boasts an excellent range of high quality and large capacity hotels.”

Porto’s 2015-built terminal is meshing well with the increase in ship size.

“For instance, last year numbers show us that cruises exceeding 250 meters more than double compared to those recorded last year. Nonetheless, there are also developments at the small end of the sector too,” added Trevisani.

“We anticipate growing at a rate of 5 percent per year in the number of passengers. So preparations are underway for busy upcoming years and by 2023 we believe more than 150,000 passengers will visit the port.”