ON ITS WAY: The Pacific World will arrive on its maiden call and dock in the Port of Walvis Bay on 24 February. Photo Peace Boat
ON ITS WAY: The Pacific World will arrive on its maiden call and dock in the Port of Walvis Bay on 24 February. Photo Peace Boat

Four passenger ships en route to Walvis Bay

Cruise control
The Namibian Ports Authority will welcome four cruise ships on maiden calls to the Port of Walvis Bay.
Otis Daniels
The Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) looks forward to welcoming the Pacific World (formerly Sun Princess) on its first visit to a Namibian port.

Taná Pesat, corporate communication manager at Namport, confirmed that the vessel carrying thousands of passengers will arrive on its maiden call and dock in the Port of Walvis Bay on 24 February.

“We are also anticipating another three maiden calls, with Silver Cloud scheduled to call on 22 March, Borealis on 2 April and Silver Shadow on 7 April,” Pesat said.

Cruise itinerary

The Pacific World is on a 107-day cruise titled “The 116th Global Voyage” which commenced in Yokohama, Japan, on 14 December 23 and will conclude in the same port on 29 March 2024. She is sailing under the flag of Panama and can carry 2 010 passengers and 924 crew members.

The cruise, which features 19 destinations, first made its way easterly across the Pacific, reaching the isolated Easter Island and the lost city of Machu Picchu. The voyage also saw passengers visit Brazil during the “Rio Carnival.”

The Pacific World left the Port of Salvador in Brazil on 15 February en route to a first-ever stop in the remote Tristan da Cunha archipelago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located midway between southern Africa and South America, before arriving in Port of Walvis Bay, where passengers will set foot on the African continent to see the oldest desert in the world, the Namib Desert.

Floating home

The Sun-class cruise ship was built in 1995 and is operated by Peace Boat, which raised awareness of global issues, fostered positive social change, and transformed its passengers’ perspectives of the world with more than 100 cruises organised over 35 years.

Peace Boat hosted over 70 000 passengers and travelled to more than 200 ports in over 80 countries. Offering a spacious, relaxing environment for your around-the-world journey, Pacific World is the largest ship ever sailed in the 40-year history of Peace Boat.

Bigger and better

When the 1 950-passenger ship Sun Princess, with a length of 261 m, debuted in 1995, she was not only the Princess fleet’s largest but also the industry’s biggest-ever cruise ship. Dorothy Sterling christened the ship prior to its inauguration voyage. The boat has 15 decks, of which 11 are passenger-accessible and seven with cabins. The Pacific World was constructed at a cost of US$300 million and featured in the TV series “The Love Boat: The Next Wave,” with Robert Urich in the main role.

Cruise ships started to exceed ocean liners in size and capacity in the mid-1990s. Icon of the Seas is the first ship of Royal Caribbean’s Icon class of cruise ships and the largest cruise ship in service after late January 2024. She has a length of 364.75 m, with 2 805 staterooms, and a passenger carrying capacity of 7 600.

Wonder of the Seas is the latest ship of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class of cruise ships and the second largest cruise ship in service after January 2024. She has a length of 262.04 m, with 2 874 staterooms, and a passenger carrying capacity of 6 988.

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