The French-operated cruise ship Le Champlain will arrive at Saaremaa's harbor on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The vessel, carrying 163 passengers, mostly from France and the United States, will arrive from Riga and depart in the evening for Helsinki.

The same ship will visit Tallinn's Old City Harbor on April 22. The ship is 131 meters long and can accommodate up to 184 passengers.

Cruise companies have booked six visits to Saaremaa harbor this season, with the next scheduled for June 21 and the final one on September 15.

Tallinn's cruise season will run from April 22 through October 12, with one winter cruise planned for December. In total, the Port of Tallinn expects 115 cruise ship visits to the capital.

The busiest day of the season will be May 14, when five cruise ships are scheduled to dock simultaneously, bringing over 8,000 cruise tourists to Tallinn.

On 12 occasions, ships will stay in Tallinn for two days.

Last year, cruise ships visited Saaremaa and Tallinn's cruise port 108 times during the season.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, cruise ships called at Tallinn over 300 times per season. In 2020, the Port of Tallinn expected 336 visits, although these were cancelled.

A major factor in the decline is Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After February 2022, Baltic sea cruises no longer sail to St. Petersburg, which were popular as the city could be visited visa free, and which often stopped at Tallinn on the way.

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