Souda achieves Home Port status for the first time

In a historic day for Souda and the Port Authority of Chania, the port has become designated for the first time as “Home Port”, with passengers embarking en masse at Souda to start their cruise. On Saturday 21st September, 317 passengers boarded the cruise ship Renaissance to start an itinerary which was to take in Rhodes, Kos, Mykonos, Piraeus and Santorini, ending in Heraklion on Saturday 28th September.

The cruise ship Renaissance
Formerly owned by the Holland America line, the 220-metre Renaissance was acquired by the newly formed Compagnie Française de Croisière (CFC) in August 2022 and put into service after a €30 million refit in June 2023. The company’s only ship, it can accommodate some 1,100 passengers in 629 cabins ranging from 17 to 87 sq m. Photo: CFC

In a press statement marking the occasion the president of the Port Authority of Chania Dimitris Virirakis said: “The cruise ship Renaissance of the French cruise line CFC, which sailed into Souda today, will from now on have the historic title of the first cruise ship to carry out a mass embarkation of cruise passengers from the Port of Souda, making it a Home Port. Today 317 passengers, mostly French, were embarked on the ship at Souda with Schengen check-in procedures and everything went perfectly, for which we received congratulations from the company.

Cruise passngers embarking at Souda
Passengers checking-in to the cruise ship Renaissance at Souda port, 21st September 2024. Photo: Dimitris Virirakis.

“It is something which as the Port Authority of Chania we have been studying and working towards for many years, and today, 21st September, the historic moment has finally arrived. It was a successful start and undoubtedly other companies will follow suit. The economic advantages for every designated Home Port are many times greater (up to 5 times per person) than from a simple cruise visitor, as special studies have shown.

“I thank those who have helped us to get to this point, especially the security staff, the man in charge of Port Facilities my friend Dimitris Christeas, and the shipping agent Mr Lykourgos Chondrakis who took the commercial risk of embarking passengers at Souda en masse for the first time.”
(Haniotika Nea, 21/09/24)