Hamburg Cruise Days

Hamburg has got a thing with superlatives. The biggest port birthday in the world, the biggest City Harley Days in the world, the biggest model railway in the world and also the nicest cruise festival in the world.
Generally speaking, Hamburg has turned into quite a successful cruise destination. The hanseatic city could count with about 200 ships coming in, carrying about 800.000 passengers. But let´s be honest, there is almost no other new destination as beautiful as Hamburg for a boat to visit. For the passengers on the boat as well as the spectators on land. Experiencing the giants of the seas coming in through the landing bridges and the Elbphilharmonie, then passing through the heart of the city with the port in the background is a unique experience.

When the sight of one cruise ship coming in is already this spectacular, you can guess how overwhelming it is when a little armada is cruising along the Elbe. That´s why the parade on Saturday night is the pinnacle of the Hamburg Cruise Days. Several illuminated grand cruise liners go down the Elbe acompanied by many smaller convoying ships and impressive fireworks. In the course of this, each and every one of the majestic cruise ships are greeted – with the applause of hundreds of thousands of spectators. But the maritime event also offers great programs on land. About 15 theme-islands await the visitors in the event area alongside with numerous stages, a nostalgic market, stands with handcrafts and all sorts of delicious food.

365 days of preparation with 120 construction sights, 12.000 lights, 15.000 meters of cable ties, 40 kilometers of cable and about 900 electrical plugs on about 8,5 kilometers project area at the port in Hamburg – those are the numbers and facts to the blue port during the Cruise Days. The highest installation is the NDR transmitting Broadcasting tower with a height of 304m; the construction with the largest amount of lights is the Köhlbrand Bridge.

Showtime is each night from 9:30pm until 1:00am. More than 100 objects are dipped into a magical blue light over a week. After the official Light-Up on Monday night the Hafenkante shines as a sensational piece of art which at the end of the weekend ends up in the Hamburg Cruise Days which take place at the same time. prizeotel also lights up in blue – matching the Blue Port.