Cruise season kicks off with first arrival of busy year
THE 2025 cruise season gets underway today (Friday) with the arrival of the Viking Vela – the first of 145 vessels expected to visit.
Making her maiden visit to Lerwick, the 228-metre cruise ship has brought more than 980 passengers to the isles from countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia.
En-route from Aberdeen to Bergen, the 47,800 gross tonne vessel is due to return on Tuesday 8 April and a further seven times throughout the busy 2025 cruise season.
Viking Ocean Cruises is Lerwick’s top cruise line visitor, with its vessels scheduled to call 21 times during the season.
And Viking Vela is one of eight maiden visits booked for Lerwick this year, including Virgin’s Scarlet Lady and Ritz Carton’s Ilma.
Lerwick Port Authority’s cruise and marketing manager Melanie Henderson said: “We are all looking forward to another very busy season, representing another great selection of cruise lines and ships visiting over seven months.”
She said the busy cruise season reflected “Shetland’s continuing popularity as a leading Scottish destination across the industry and making an important contribution to the local economy”.
“The service sector is geared up to provide its world-renowned Shetland hospitality,” Henderson added.
The 181,541 gross tonnes MSC Virtuosa, which last year became the largest cruise ship to call at Lerwick, will return twice in June.
The port authority’s future plans include dredging the channel and approaches to Mair’s Pier to improve berthing for mid-sized cruise ships, with this project anticipated to start later this year.
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