The 2024 European cruise season is coming to an end as the ships move south to warmer climes for the winter.

On Thursday the luxurious cruise ship Seven Seas Splendor returned for a call as she neared the end of her UK circumnavigation on a themed cruise called ‘Divine Castles Coasts’ from Southampton to Southampton, after which the ship heads for Barcelona, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

The German operated ship MS Hamburg makes two calls this month - one on October 10, when she is on a round trip from Hamburg for a British Isles cruise, followed by another call on October 21, as she heads south to the West Indies and Cuba for most of the winter.

The mega cruise ship MSC Virtuosa,185,000 tons, will be visiting Falmouth on October 24, completing her series of ‘Northern Europe’ cruises in early November before sailing from Southampton for the West Indies.

The 331 metre long vessel aborted a call here earlier this year when weather conditions were unfavourable for a tendering operation in the bay.

With a passenger capacity of 6,340, the ship is one of the largest of her type in the world today, standing at number 19 in the top 30 ships.

Finally, the Sirena from the Oceania stable is the last vessel of the season to arrive, on October 30, on a round-trip ‘British Isles Passage Amsterdam to Amsterdam’ cruise, then onto New York and Miami for a series of West Indies and Central America cruises.