Lisbon has more than 200 cruises scheduled for 2021 with 400,000 passengers

APL, the administration of the Port of Lisbon, has 219 cruises involving 400,000 passengers scheduled for later this year – albeit no one yet knows the government’s policy on cruises and their passengers. With other countries re-starting their cruiseline industries in May, APL admits that everything is dependent on the development of the Covid-19 pandemic. But business is ‘champing at the bit’, with even more trips already in the offing for 2022. These cruises will be what is known in the trade as ‘turnarounds’ – beginning and ending in Lisbon. They are likely only to accept vaccinated passengers and the ships have been re-designed radically with the pandemic in mind.