The Spirit of Discovery has docked in Santander, becoming the first cruise ship to call at the city in 2026. Arriving from the United Kingdom, the vessel is berthed at the Muelle del Almirante and will remain there with 999 passengers on board until three o’clock in the early hours of Friday morning.
The ship, represented by Pérez & CIA and owned by the shipping company Saga, was built in 2019 and is one of Saga Cruises’ flagship vessels. It carries close to 1,000 passengers, most of them British nationals. The vessel departed from Portsmouth, England, on 19 January bound for Funchal, Madeira (Portugal), but was required to make an unscheduled stop in Santander due to adverse weather conditions.
This 18-day cruise includes planned calls at several ports in Portugal, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, before returning to Portsmouth, England.
This type of unplanned call highlights the role of the Port of Santander as a safe and strategic harbour on northern Spain’s shipping routes, as well as its capacity to accommodate large cruise vessels even outside initial schedules.