Port of Aberdeen welcomed its longest-ever vessel, the 294m-long Norwegian Star cruise ship, on July 15, 2026.

The Norwegian Cruise Line vessel arrived at the port’s South Harbour from Newhaven with 2,366 guests on board and will depart for Bergen following a day-long stopover. Spanning 15 decks, Norwegian Star has a gross tonnage of 91,470.

Shortly after, AIDAsol, AIDA Cruises' 253m-long vessel, also berthed at South Harbour with 2,511 guests on board.

Guests received a traditional Scottish welcome from Robert Gordon’s College Pipe Band and Alba Bagpipes and were greeted on the quayside by VisitAberdeenshire’s Welcome to Aberdeenshire volunteers. They disembarked for sightseeing and excursions in the city center and across Aberdeenshire.

The two vessels are among the highlights of Port of Aberdeen’s busiest-ever cruise season, with 75 calls scheduled to bring up to 57,000 guests to the region. This compares with 65 calls and 49,000 guests in 2025.

More than half of this season's calls are from vessels measuring over 200m, demonstrating the expanded capacity provided by South Harbour and enabling an ever-growing number of cruise guests to explore Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

The previous record was held by Costa Cruises’ 290m-long Costa Favolosa, which called at Port of Aberdeen in July 2024.