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So far in 2023, a total of 23 cruise ships have completed a total of 31 calls with overnight stays in Málaga, and judging by the number of cruise ships that have already overnighted in Málaga’s docks this year, it looks as though 2023 will beat 2022 in terms of cruise overnight stays.

 

In 2022, there were 25 cruise ships docking overnight, and the number of cruises docking in total – including those that don’t pause for the night – has already surpassed last year’s numbers.

 

This past weekend alone, the port of Málaga hosted two cruise ships that spent the night in the Costa del Sol port, both disembarking passengers at the end of one cruise tour and taking on new ones at the beginning of another.

 

Not only does it look as if there will be more cruises in 2023 than in 2022, but they are also mainly small- and medium-sized ships, which are better for decongesting the city centre and which are though to help local hotels on land more than mega cruises.

 

Sixteen of the 23 ships that have spent the night in Málaga so far this year are less than 200 metres in length and have fewer than 400 passengers, enabling increased mobility of tourists from these ships with added pre- or post-cruise hotel stays.

 

Several years ago, Málaga port made a commitment to attract these small- and medium-sized cruises in the luxury sector, a plan that seems to be paying off.

 

While the Costa del Sol city is not experiencing the same problems of overcrowding from disembarking cruise passengers that, say, the likes of Palma de Mallorca have, there is no denying that Málaga is an incredibly touristy place and, regardless of which types of cruise ships dock there, it will still have the inflated hotel, restaurant and shopping prices that are associated with having so many tourists.

 

 

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