Le Lyrial Opens the 2026-2027 Cruise Season in Valparaíso

The cruise ship Le Lyrial, of the Ponant Cruises line and handled by Broom as shipping agent, berthed on Monday, November 2 at Berth No. 5 of Terminal Pacífico Sur (TPS), assisted by the tugboat Mataquito II of SAAM Towage. The vessel became the first cruise ship of the 2026-2027 season at TPS and the second to call at the Port of Valparaíso in this new cycle.

The ship remained in port overnight and departed on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 3, beginning a 14-day itinerary that includes sailing through the Patagonian fjords, a port of call at Caleta Tortel, transit through the Strait of Magellan and passage around Cape Horn, before concluding in Ushuaia, Argentina.

In the following days, the Port of Valparaíso received three other passenger vessels: on Tuesday, November 3, the Silver Cloud, of Silversea Cruises and handled by Inchcape, docked at Berth No. 1 of TPS, becoming the third vessel of the season; it arrived from a 23-night voyage that began in Papeete and departed bound for Puerto Williams to begin an Antarctic expedition. On Wednesday, November 4, Le Austral, of Compagnie du Ponant, arrived, and on Thursday, November 5, the Scenic Eclipse called at Terminal Portuario Valparaíso (TPV).

According to TPS, the first three calls of the week carried 179 passengers aboard the Le Lyrial, around 450 aboard the Silver Cloud and 300 passengers aboard Le Austral. TPS General Manager Cristian Rodríguez noted that the season will be similar to the previous one in terms of number of calls, though he highlighted the first-ever arrivals of the cruise ships Queen Anne and Amadea in February 2027. TPS projects 15 calls between November and March, six of them in February, and anticipated that the largest vessel of the season will be the Majestic Princess, with a length of 330 meters and capacity for 3,500 passengers, due to arrive in December.

Portal Portuario reported that the 2026-2027 season includes 30 scheduled calls at the Port of Valparaíso, 25% more than the previous cycle, of which 14 correspond to TPS and 16 to TPV. Valparaíso's mayor, Camila Nieto, however, mentioned the arrival of 31 passenger vessels during the season, while the Empresa Portuaria Valparaíso (EPV) specified that the period began on October 17 and will run until April 15, 2027, with a total of 30 calls projected.

Authorities such as the acting General Manager of Puerto Valparaíso, Guillermo Crovari, and the region's governor, Rodrigo Mundaca, highlighted the coordination between public and private entities to handle the consecutive port calls, including reinforced security checks with X-ray equipment and the involvement of the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) and the National Customs Service. The Regional Secretary of Economy, Development and Tourism, Cristian Mella, and TPV's General Manager, Felipe Murúa, emphasized the season's impact on local trade, gastronomy and tourism services.