The Seabourn Legend was once again in Gozo recently, marking the 30th cruise ship to be handled by Mifsud Brothers Ltd (Malta Cruise Services) on the sister island.

MBL’s first experience with a cruise call in Gozo was in 2006. Within just four years, it received the prestigious SeatradeInsider award for its contribution towards promoting the island of Gozo to itinerary planners in the cruise liner industry. Within those few years, Gozo had already registered 13 calls ranging from the smallest boutique yacht-like cruise ship called SeaDream carrying 100 passengers to the record breaking Holland America Line Noordam call when over 600 passengers booked shore excursions and another 1,200 disembarked to discover Gozo on their own.

This award came just weeks before Seabourn announced 12 scheduled calls in Gozo in their itineraries for 2012 and later another nine for 2013.

The MV Legend is part of the Seabourn fleet that is owned by the Carnival Corporation that also owns Holland America Line, Cunard, P&O, Costa, AIDA, Princess and Carnival Cruise Line.

Ivan Mifsud, managing director of MBL who spearheaded the concept of “Cruise Gozo”, is delighted that his team’s effort to launch Gozo as a supplementary port of call to Valletta has gained such momentum.

He continued: “It is essential that Gozo continues to use its spell binding charm so that more cruise ships are attracted to this tranquil island and that any new developments are sensitive to Gozo’s particular needs and the environment.”