Owned by one of the world’s largest cruise lines, the Regal Princess disembarked at a port in the Kuşadası district of western Turkey’s Aydın province on Wednesday.
The ship was carrying 2,460 passengers, with most of the tourists coming from the United States.
The Bermuda-flagged cruise ship, which has a length of 330 meters (1,082 feet) and a weight of 141,000 gross tons, has been dubbed a "floating city" by cruise companies docked at the Kuşadası Ege Port.
The ship has a 3,560-passenger capacity and towers 15 stories above the water's surface.
Some of the ship's guests visited the ancient city of Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary in nearby Izmir province’s Selçuk district, while others enjoyed the touristic bazaars of Kuşadası.
The ancient city is one the most renowned historical attractions in Turkey, bearing cultural traces from three different epochs – the revolutionary Neolithic, the divisive Hellenistic and the influential and transformative Roman periods.
The site is home to the Library of Celsus – which was the third-largest library in the Roman Empire behind only Alexandria and Pergamon – and a huge 25,000-seat theater.
The stone House of Virgin Mary, meanwhile, is located 7 kilometers (4.32 miles) from Selçuk, just outside of Ephesus. It is considered one of Christianity’s holiest sites and is also an important site for Muslims.
The house received the title of an official place of Catholic pilgrimage in the 1800s and Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI all visited the site in 1967, 1979 and 2006, respectively.
The Regal Princess is set to make eight more voyages to Kuşadası until the end of the cruise season.
Sector representatives last year said Kuşadası is expected to allow a record number of giant vessels to dock throughout 2022, as at least 500 cruisers are planned to dock at the Ege Port throughout this year.
