Iona and Nieuw Statendam Bring 7,967 Passengers to Funchal
Nieuw Statendam arrived from Rotterdam at 5:45 a.m. and was bound for Santa Cruz de La Palma, while Iona was making its first stop on a 14-night round trip from Southampton.
P&O Cruises’ 184,000-gross-ton Iona and Holland America Line’s 99,902-gross-ton Nieuw Statendam called at Funchal on Wednesday with more than 10,600 passengers and crew aboard. Passenger counts supplied by the Madeira Autonomous Region Ports Administration (APRAM) totalled 7,967 across the two ships. No comment from a named APRAM official accompanied the call figures.
Funchal had a record cruise season in 2024, when passenger traffic reached 728,604, up 16.68% from 624,400 in 2023. That was the first year the port handled more than 700,000 cruise passengers.
Two early arrivals, two long voyages
Nieuw Statendam entered Funchal’s bay at 5:45 a.m., arriving from Rotterdam with 2,571 passengers and 1,001 crew members. Its scheduled departure was 6 p.m., with Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canary Islands the next destination.
Iona arrived at 6:30 a.m. carrying 5,396 passengers and 1,668 crew members, with departure scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Blatas handled both vessels.
Funchal is Iona’s first stop on a 14-night round-trip sailing from Southampton. The itinerary continues to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, followed by Lisbon and the Spanish ports of Vigo and La Coruña. The voyage ends on October 17.
Nieuw Statendam is on a 27-night voyage that began on September 19 and finishes in Dover on October 16. Before reaching Madeira, the ship visited Norwegian ports, Dover and Rotterdam. After La Palma, it continues to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Lisbon.
Record traffic provides the backdrop
Funchal received 316 cruise calls during 2024, compared with 279 the previous year. The season included 88 overnight calls and first visits by 23 ships, while passengers and crew combined exceeded one million.
The port’s direct cruise-related economic impact reached €61.4 million, a 20.3% increase over 2023. November was its busiest month, bringing 145,232 cruise passengers from 63 calls.
MSC Virtuosa is scheduled to arrive on Thursday with approximately 6,500 passengers and crew aboard. Its Funchal stop is expected to last 11 hours.
