The cruise ship Adora Mediterranea departed from Qingdao Cruise Homeport on May 21, with over 2,600 passengers on a five-day, four-night trip to Busan and Jeju, South Korea. This is the first international cruise of the year at Qingdao Port and the beginning of the 2026 cruise season.

The cruise coincides with the second anniversary of China's visa-free policy for foreign tourist groups arriving by cruise. The border inspection station of Qingdao implemented streamlined procedures to ensure fast and smooth clearance. By adjusting inspection channels and providing priority access for seniors and children, officers processed all 2,600 outbound passengers in just over three hours.

Qingdao is a key homeport for Adora Cruises in its Northeast Asia route network. On this voyage, Adora Mediterranea will host the first maritime film festival, a new effort combining cinema with cruise tourism.

As the only professional cruise port in the Yellow River basin, Qingdao offers prime location advantages, developed port services, and rich cultural tourism resources, supported by targeted industry policies.

Since China introduced the cruise visa-free policy on May 15, 2024, Qingdao has experienced increased cruise traffic, with ships like Europa 2, Blue Dream Melody, and Adora Magic City arriving in succession. Last year, the homeport's daily passenger throughput exceeded 10,000 for the first time. Over the past two years, Qingdao has processed 57 cruise ships and over 95,000 cruise passengers.

With simplified border inspection — no landing card, no fingerprint scan, and fast QR code clearance — the processing time per passenger has been reduced from 45 seconds to under seven seconds. A multilingual service team also assists foreign travelers.

"We will continue to improve cruise clearance services, supporting high-quality development of Qingdao's cruise economy and cultural tourism," said Chen Xiao, director of the border inspection station of Qingdao.

The cruise ship Adora Mediterranea departs from Qingdao Cruise Homeport, carrying over 2,600 passengers on their visa-free trip to South Korea. [Photo/Guanhai News]