Almost 2000 AIDAmar cruise ship passengers inject money into local business and tour Geraldton landmarks

More than 2000 passengers, mostly from Germany, docked in Geraldton on Tuesday — on the biggest cruise ship to visit the port city — spending the day touring local landmarks and businesses before setting sail towards Mauritius. The AIDAmar arrived in Geraldton on day 77 of its world cruise, just over halfway through the 118-day trip. The cruise ship made its way to Australia after docking in the Cook Islands and French Polynesia. The 253.22m German ship, which can host up to 2600 passengers and 600 crew members, is the biggest cruise ship to dock at Geraldton Port. Mayor Shane Van Styn said he was appreciative Geraldton was included in the Australian leg of the ship’s tour together with major cities Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth (Fremantle). “This is a high-end cruise ship with high-net-worth Germans on board who are paying around $50,000 all-in to be on the cruise before shore leave costs,” he said. “It was the largest ship the port has received, and speaking with the captain and crew they were impressed with the logistics.” Mr Van Styn said more than 95 per cent of the 2194 AIDAmar passengers disembarked and enjoyed touring the city for most of the day. “It was good to have them on the maiden voyage and look forward to having them back next year,” he said. The mayor estimated each traveller would have spent $250 during their visit, directly injecting money into the local economy. German couple Rudolf Poechacker and Andrea Waltraud Liebl told the Guardian their thoughts on Geraldton. The couple visited the HMAS Sydney Memorial II and Queens Park, saw cockatoos, visited Stirling Central and drank “very nice wine”. “It looks very small, but it is a nice city. The beaches are good to go to for swimming and when we went shopping, there was too many people for the shops. It was busy,” she said. For a small city, Ms Liebl said Geraldton seemed like “it’s a nice place to live” and looked forward to their next destination. “We’re going to the Mauritius, seven days on sea and then we’re in Mauritius,” she said. Tourists enjoyed the visitor welcome area next to Regional Sounds featuring market stalls with local sellers, a food van and live music. They also posed for photos with western rock lobster. Mathias and Carmen Heidenreich hail from Konstanz, the pair said they loved Geraldton and were particularly impressed with the “wonderful” cathedral. “We must come back here . . . it’s our favourite place in Australia,” they said, beating out Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle. The Kalbarri and Abrolhos plane trips were a particular highlight for Carmen Stoffel, Ulrike Gercke, Doris Wauer and Dagmar Obermeiet. The next cruise ship to dock at Geraldton is the Azamara Quest arriving on February 20 with more than 700 passengers on board.