Hamburg Cruise Days 2025

 Hamburg Cruise Days 2025

A light and ship performance in the Port of Hamburg! The Landungsbrücken (landing bridges) became the "Blue Port" for a weekend, and visitors experienced the Cruise Days 2025 against an unforgettable, maritime backdrop.

Light artist Michael Batz called his light installation during the Hamburg Cruise Days 2025 "Blue Port" - We visited the HafenCity Gate ... (DEUTSCH, FRANÇAIS), NEDERLANDS, ENGLISH) 

Hamburg. September 14, 2025: Imagine you are sitting in a cozy restaurant serving fine cuisine on the pier of the Port of Hamburg, opposite the Elbphilharmonie. In the gourmet restaurant Stricker's Kehr Wieder Spitze, fried sea bream fillet with creamed potatoes, chanterelle mushrooms, parsley gremolata, and pine nuts is being served. The wine glistens in the glasses, and the eyes of the people sitting opposite you glow in the lights of the illuminated boats bobbing by. So you're sitting in your restaurant, an old three-masted ship is moored at the quay, and then, you can hardly believe your eyes, a skyscraper passes by... The blue hour has begun...

 

View from the restaurant window: The MSC Preziosa cruises up the Elbe during the blue hour, photo: Helga Waess

 

The stylish luxury liner is followed by aerodynamic expedition ships and small river cruisers

Half a million guests (according to today's newspapers) who visited the Port of Hamburg experienced something like this over the weekend. They saw the giants of the high seas passing by up and down the Elbe River.

 

View from the restaurant window of the Landungsbrücken: "Blue Port" by light artist Michael Batz. A light installation in the Port of Hamburg - September 12-14, 2025, Photo: Helga Waess

In the gourmet restaurant with a harbor view

There were only a few diners in the gourmet restaurant with a harbor view, but there were even more on the opposite quays and on the outer piers of the Elbphilharmonie.

And there were plenty of photos being taken, because we were all part of this blue light performance that made the harbor appear almost romantic, indeed, in a different light.

After all, light artist Michael Batz laid 50 kilometers of cable to bring the "Blue Port" to life. And the Elbphilharmonie is part of the harbor view...

 

Blue Port with Elbphilharmonie, photo: Helga Waess

 

The vintage ship "Cap San Diego" 

was built in 1961/62 as a general cargo freighter for the shipping company "Hamburg Süd" and is the largest seaworthy museum ship in the world

 

The vintage ship "Cap San Diego", photo: A. Waess, Hamburg, September 14, 2025

From September 12th to 14th, a total of eight cruise ships were registered for the event

The cruise giants met up at the Elbphilharmonie in spectacular fashion and danced up and down the Elbe River over the waves of the harbor. On Saturday, there was a gigantic fireworks display with music.

The following ships were on display:

• AIDAperla – 300 m long – which then continues on to Southampton
• AIDAsol (AIDA Cruises) – 252 m long
• EUROPA (Hapag-Lloyd Cruises) – 199 m long
• Mein Schiff 4 (TUI Cruises) – 293 m long
• MSC Preziosa (MSC Cruises) – 333 m long
• MS Sans Souci (PLANTOURS Cruises) – 82 m long
• Norwegian Dawn (Norwegian Cruise Line) – 294 m long – built for 2,300 passengers in 2002
• VASCO DA GAMA (nicko cruises) – 219 m long

The Hamburg Cruise Days 2025 were definitely worth a trip,

... even if you had to travel from Munich or Pforzheim, like our table neighbors.

And the blue hour just after sunset created a very romantic harbor backdrop.

 

View from the window: Norwegian Dawn - Photo: Helga Waess

One thing is certain: the next Hamburg Cruise Days in 2027 are already priced in!!!

The historic three-masted sailing ship "Rickmer Rickmers" is moored as a museum ship in the Port of Hamburg:

Three-masted ship and excursion boat at the quay in front of the restaurant, Photo: Helga Waess

A visit to the TITANIC show in Hamburg is practically a must!

At the current exhibition about the most famous passenger ship of all time,

you can continue the real-life journey of the "Blue Port" with the immersive journey called

"Titanic: An Immersive Journey" - “Titanic: Eine Immersive Reise”  

Here, 300 artifacts from the history of the ocean liner can be experienced!

Expo Hall - Museum Exhibition "Titanic: An Immersive Journey" in Hamburg, Photo: Helga Waess

 

 HAMBURG
The immersive Titanic exhibition in Hamburg runs until November 2, 2025
and can be seen in the
EXPO Hall, Neß 9 (Rathausviertel) in Hamburg.

MUNICH
The exhibition "Titanic: An Immersive Journey" runs in Munich until January 11, 2026.
TITANIC MUNICH LOCATION
Pineapple Park (formerly Paketposthalle) Munich
Arnulfstraße 195-199, 80634 Munich

VIENNA
The exhibition "Titanic: An Immersive Journey"
runs in Vienna
from October 1, 2025
in the Marx Halle