Located at the former Kai Tak Runway, the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal will open on June 12, 2013. The Cruise Ship “Mariner of the Seas” has been the first “official” cruise ship to dock at this new terminal (three months prior the official opening ceremony, the GTS Celebrity Millennium cruise ship has been allowed to dock for testing and rehearsal purposes on March 16, 2013 almost 15 years after the Kai Tak Airport closed down) and let Kai Tak serve as an entry point for travelers again.
Grand Opening of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal
(Note: The copyright of this picture belong to Kai Tak Cruise Terminal)
The new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal has been constructed on the former site of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport (some of you frequent travelers might still know the checkerboard approach and the thrilling approach around mountains and high-rising skyscrapers). The futuristic new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal has been designed by no-one less than architectural design legend Lord Norman Foster and Partners and will not only be a world class terminal, but will also be – similar to the Hong Kong International Airport Chek Lap Kok – a new signature piece of architecture in Hong Kong .
The new cruise terminal will be in the middle of Victoria Harbour. The first berth is 455m length x 35m width and the second berth is 395m length x 35m width. It has a capacity to berth two large 360-metre-long vessels and can handle ships of up to 220,000 gross registered tonnage. The second berth is scheduled to open in 2014. Five boarding bridges can handle up to 3,000 passengers per hour. Demands for future anticipating demands of larger ships have been planned in. The Kai Tak Cruise Terminal has been generously designed and features even several green eco-standards and energy savings measures including using recycled rain water for cooling.
The passenger arrival area, baggage handling area, customs and immigration as well as back offices are located on the ground level while the second floor features the passenger drop-off area, check-in and waiting areas as well as shops, restaurants and cafes.
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