[July 10, 2017, Incheon, Republic of Korea]

On July 9, 2017, the Incheon Port Authority (IPA, www.icpa.or.kr) announced that Princess Cruise’s ultra-large cruise ship ‘Majestic Princess’ entered the temporary dock of Incheon Port at 12:00 on July 7.

Majestic Princess is a new ship handed over to Princess Cruise from an Italian dockyard in late March. It was test-operated in the Mediterranean Sea until mid-May.

To celebrate the huge cruise ship’s arrival in the Port of Incheon, the IPA held a welcome ceremony including a cruise ship tour in cooperation with Princess Cruise Korea by inviting 150 people including those from domestic travel agencies, the press and related organizations. The event was conducted in order of welcoming ceremony, banquet and facility tour.

According to the IPA, it was a large welcome event held with the attendance of officials from shipbuilding & port and tourism-related organizations. The attendees shared opinions about how to promote cruise tourism which has been frozen due to China’s ban on tours to South Korea and agreed to work together to find a breakthrough.

At the welcome ceremony, Anthony H. Kaufman, Vice Chairman of Princess Cruise, said, “We are closely watching the growth of the Asian cruise market. We would like to keep concentrating on this fascinating market”. He added, “Incheon is a great port of call as well”.

Majestic Princess is a worldwide cruise ship which departs from Rome, Italy on May 21st and travels around the world including Europe, Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia and Japan for 49 days. It left Osaka, Japan and arrived in Incheon on July 7. The passengers got off and traveled around the downtown of Incheon, Seoul and Paju. At 22:00, they returned back to the ship, and it departed for its final destination Shanghai, China.

Majestic Princess is an ultra-large cruise ship which is as high as a 19-story building. This 143,700 tonne vessel has the capacity of 3,560 passengers. It’s been said that it was built with KRW 718 billion in investments for 2 years. In particular, it was specially designed for Asian passengers only. In fact, it would set a new record in the cruise ship industry.

Nam Bong-hyeon, President of the IPA, said, “Incheon Cruise Terminal is slated to open in 2019. Actually, it is desperate for us to grow into a cruise home port until then”. He continued “We would devote all our energy to marketing to make more cruise ships arrive in the Port of Incheon in cooperation with related organizations”.

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- Picture #1-2:

On the morning of July 7th, Princess Cruise’s Majestic Princess is entering into the Port of Incheon.

- Picture #3:

On the morning of July 7th, Princess Cruise’s Majestic Princess was docked at the Port of Incheon for the first time.

- Picture #4:

On July 7th, at the celebration of the Majestic Princess’ arrival in the Port of Incheon on board, Anthony H. Kaufman, Vice Chairman of Princess Cruise, is delivering congratulatory remarks.

Pictures #5-6:

On July 7th, at the celebration of Majestic Princess’ arrival in the Port of Incheon on board, Nam Bong-hyeon, President of the IPA, handed over a memorial plaque to Captain Craig Street. They are posing for a photo.

- Picture #7:

On July 7th, at the celebration of Majestic Princess’ arrival in the Port of Incheon on board, Captain Craig Street is handing over a memorial plaque to Nam Bong-hyeon, President of the IPA.

* Pictures provided by: The IPA