St. Petersburg, Russia, is expecting a 2019 season amounting to 262 calls and over 625,000 passengers.

Numbers are consistent for 2020, said Vadim Kashirin, director general of the Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg Marine Façade.

The record-setting 2019 cruise season will be highlighted by 10 maiden calls, including the new Viking Jupiter and Nieuw Statendam.

The port has no problem with busy days, with the facilities to easily manage seven ships and up to 18,000 passengers at once if necessary, Kashirin explained.

Numbers peaked on June 30, 2018, when over 18,000 guests visited on six ships, with the Norwegian Breakaway joining the Oceania Marina, Mein Schiff 1, Britannia, Zuiderdam and Regal Princess in the Russian port.

“We are planning four years out, so today we are accepting berth reservations for 2023,” Kashirin said.

A new sports and fitness center will open in the port area this August, targeted at crew members, while the port is also working to extend berth No. 7 by 41.6 meters.

“The total length will be 416.6 meters,” said Kashirin. “After the second part of the project the length of the berth will be 483.6 meters which will provide the safe mooring of two cruise ships over 330 meters in length simultaneously. The project is planned to be completed by February 2021.”

Another plan in the works: turnarounds under a simplified visa program, Kashirin said.