© Carnival Cruise Line PHOTO: Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Victory. (photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line) By Ana Figueroa , Tra...
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By Ana Figueroa, TravelPulse
Carnival Corporation & PLC has opened a new cruise center at the port of Barcelona.
The 12,500 square meter Helix Cruise Center joins Carnival’s existing Palacruceros terminal and features a modern design by Catalan architecture firm Batlle i Roig Arquitectura. It is also built to accommodate the next generation of green ships powered by liquefied natural gas.
The two Barcelona terminals represent Carnival Corporation's largest combined terminal investment in Europe.
Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation and Giora Israel, senior vice president of global ports and destination development, were among the dignitaries at the official inaugural ceremonies for Helix.
“We are absolutely thrilled to introduce our world-class Helix cruise center to welcome guests from around the world to Europe's best-loved cruise port and to Barcelona, one of the world's greatest cities and regions," said Israel.
"As the world's largest cruise company with more than 100 ships that sail to over 700 destinations across the globe, our goal is to provide our guests with extraordinary vacations, and we are confident that our new terminal will help us enhance the overall experience for our guests," she added. "The terminal stands as a tribute to the remarkable appeal of Barcelona and the entire country as one of the world's most beautiful, vibrant and compelling destinations. We are proud of the work that has been accomplished together with the port, city, government, business, and community. We now look forward to working with the port of Barcelona and its community partners to make the cruise terminal a highly efficient and customer-friendly operation."
Eight Carnival Corporation brands visit Barcelona each year. Namely: AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn and P&O Cruises (UK). Six of the eight will utilize Barcelona as a full or partial homeport in 2018. In total, Carnival Corporation will accommodate over one million passenger movements in Barcelona in 2018, with 289 calls by 38 different ships.
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