Riga Cruise Passengers Near 2025 Record After Strong August
Scenic Eclipse II, Seven Seas Grandeur and Explora III made maiden calls in August; Explora III arrived with eight hundred nine passengers and six hundred eighty-nine crew.
Riga handled 18 cruise ship calls and approximately 25,000 passengers in August, taking its 2026 season to 55 calls through the end of the month, 15% more than during the corresponding period last year. The Latvian port expects 98 calls for the full season, with passenger traffic forecast to rise about 30% from 2025.
August’s arrivals took Riga’s cumulative passenger count to roughly 115,000, up from about 90,000 international cruise guests through July. That puts the port near its full-year 2025 record of 115,500 passengers with almost four months remaining in the current schedule.
Three maiden calls in August
Scenic Eclipse II, Seven Seas Grandeur and Explora III made their first visits to Riga during the month. Several ships returned for multiple calls, while five days included two cruise vessels in port simultaneously.
Explora III arrived with 809 passengers and 689 crew during the fourth cruise of its operating career. Commissioned in mid-July, the Fincantieri-built ship was sailing an eight-night Northern Europe itinerary when it visited Riga. It is the first LNG-powered vessel in the Explora Journeys fleet.
Captain Serena Melani exchanged plaques aboard with representatives of the Freeport of Riga Authority. Melani described the vessel’s design as balancing new technology with maritime tradition and said modern seafaring requires environmental responsibility alongside the experience and judgment of professional crews.
The largest August visitor was the 115,875-gross-ton Sapphire Princess. Grand Circle Cruise Line’s 3,504-gross-ton Clio was the smallest and shared the port with Explora III on the day of that ship’s maiden call.
Riga’s primary sea passenger terminal is on Andrejsala near the city center, while cruise and passenger operations can also use wharves in the Krievu sala cargo area when required.
Source markets and year-end schedule
Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom were Riga’s leading cruise passenger source markets through July. The Freeport Authority attributed the season’s growth to joint destination promotion with the Municipality of Riga, the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency and other partners.
The 2025 season produced 85 calls. A 30% rise from last year’s passenger total would take Riga to approximately 150,000 cruise guests for 2026.
The season began May 3 with the arrival of Plantours’ Hamburg and is scheduled to conclude Dec. 26 with an overnight call by AIDAprima. Beyond this year, the port expects annual cruise visits to exceed 100 in coming seasons.
