TUI Cruises Debuts in Tarragona with the Mein Schiff 4 Call
The ship, carrying 2,443 passengers, conducted a transit operation at the Baleares Wharf terminal.
Nearly seventy different cruise lines have operated in Port Tarragona since the first cruise ship arrived in 1988.
TUI Cruises made its debut in Tarragona with the first call of its vessel Mein Schiff 4. The cruise ship, with 2,433 passengers on board, docked at the Baleares Wharf terminal on June 10 in a transit operation. This was the 21st call of the 65 scheduled for the 2025 season. In September, the arrival of the Mein Schiff 2 is expected, and a call by the Mein Schiff Flow is already planned for 2026. With the arrival of the Mein Schiff 4, TUI Cruises joins the list of cruise lines that have operated in Port Tarragona. Specifically, it is the 69th cruise line to call at the city since the first cruise ship docked at Port Tarragona in 1988, on a one-off operation.
The Mein Schiff 4 arrived from Marseille and, after spending a day in the city—during which the 2,433 passengers had the opportunity to explore the attractions of Tarragona and the Costa Daurada—departed for Valencia. The itinerary including Tarragona took passengers to various Mediterranean destinations, departing from the port of Savona (Italy) and stopping at Civitavecchia (Rome), Ajaccio (Corsica), Valencia, and Málaga. The final leg of the journey, which will conclude on June 19, will take place in Atlantic waters, with stops in Cádiz, Lisbon, and Leixoes (Porto).
Coinciding with the ship’s first call and the company’s debut in Tarragona, the traditional presentation of metopes took place between representatives of the Port Authority of Tarragona and the ship’s captain, Jan Fortun. The Mein Schiff 4 is the 21st call this season in Tarragona. For 2025, a total of 65 calls are planned, setting a new record following the 63 calls registered in 2024.
Upcoming Calls
The arrival of TUI Cruises with the Mein Schiff 4 is not a one-off visit, but part of the strategy to attract new cruise lines. In this context, TUI will make a second call to Tarragona this year on September 22. On that occasion, the Mein Schiff 2, a ship with capacity for 2,800 passengers, will dock, operating a four-day family itinerary with departure and return from Palma de Mallorca and stops in Marseille and Tarragona.
Looking ahead to 2026, the company has already scheduled a first call with its newest ship, the Mein Schiff Flow, which is currently under construction and will be launched in the summer of 2026. This new cruise ship, the second in the inTUItion class, will have a capacity of 3,984 passengers.
Nearly Seventy Cruise Lines
With TUI Cruises’ arrival, a total of 69 cruise lines have operated at Port Tarragona. The first was in 1988, with a single call. The next was in 1991, and in 1992 there were three. The number of calls gradually increased, reaching 11 in 2002 and 15 in 2008. With the launch of the territorial cruise project in 2015, the number of calls accelerated, reaching 63 in 2019—the same as in 2024. For 2025, two more calls are expected, bringing the total to 65, establishing a new record. This season, 32 different vessels will dock at the Baleares Wharf, 16 of them for the first time.
