Cruise Baltic’s last gathering of the year took place in Oslo over a period of two days during 31 October and 1 November, attended by representatives from all of its partner ports.

The organisation is in an advanced stage of preparing a beefy document on port standards. It is based on an extensive study of over 80 individual piers of all the ports within its region. The document promises to create a new benchmark for cruise ports and the implication of which is likely to go beyond the Baltic region.

Speakers included executives from various cruise lines with vested interest in the region. There were workshops and discussions coordinated by cruise consultants. Our correspondent, Alan Lam, was present among the delegates.

The gathering was essentially a steering group meeting, as ever, chaired by its dynamic director, Bo Larsen, during which partners shared their recent experiences, discussed pros and cons of their practices, formulated new policies, refining new initiatives, and, above all, further harmonised its already very uniformed approaches.

Two new members were approved and their names will be announced shortly.

A full article based on this intimate and thought-provoking meeting will be published in the March edition of Cruise Business Review.

Alan Lam