In the summer of 2025 the Greek government introduced a cruise tax, payable by cruise passengers on disembarkation at Greek ports. The tax rates range from €1 to €20 and are levied on all cruise ship passengers, regardless of age, each time they disembark at a port. If they do not disembark they are not charged. The fees are collected from passengers by the cruise companies or agents and are paid to the government quarterly.
Continue readingTag Archives: Cruise ships
First Chinese cruise ship arrival will follow a record year for Chania
Chania is now firmly established as a major cruise ship destination, with 220 arrivals already scheduled for the New Year, while there are increased reservations also for 2027. Next year will also see the first Chinese cruise ship tying up at Souda. It is the Zhao Shang Yi Dun, the first big cruise ship sailing under a Chinese flag to be scheduled in the Mediterranean next year.
Continue readingTowards lower-carbon cruising
With the numbers of visitors arriving in Greece increasing every year, and new hotels being built on the Greek islands at an accelerating rate, the dangers of over-tourism, with its pressures on infrastructure, water supply and drainage, traffic congestion etc, are beginning to cause concern. At the same time cruise ships are arriving in ever-increasing numbers at Chania and elsewhere, and are unthinkingly welcomed by local businesses and administrators.
Continue readingClub Med in Chania
Standing waiting for a taxi in the centre of Chania yesterday (19th August) we were pinned to the wall by a long file of tourists led by a lady holding aloft a paddle with a number on it, clearly identifying them as passengers on a cruise ship. The party stopped, filling the pavement by the taxi rank, their guide having apparently found something of consuming interest in the courtyard of what was formerly the 1st Gymnasium of Chania, but is now the Chania Scholeio Defteris Efkairias or Second Chance School, established to give those over the age of 18 the chance to acquire the high-school diploma which they had previously missed. Perhaps the guide considered this educational experiment interesting enough in itself, although the courtyard also contains one of Chania’s many war memorials.
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