Group of Cruise Ship Passengers Visit Head Post Office Philatelic Bureau, Pandeshwar, Mangaluru & Mail Postcards Back to their HomeTown
Mangaluru: On Friday, 8 December 2023, the New Mangalore Port, welcomed the first cruise ship of the current cruise season, ‘ SEVEN SEAS NAVIGATOR’ berthed at the Port carrying 500 plus passengers and 350 crew members sailing operated by Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which entered service for Radisson Seven Seas Cruises in 1999. The Seven Seas Navigator continues to sail under the brand Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The Navigator underwent a $40 million refurbishment in March/April 2016 that upgraded the common areas and suites.
After a day stay in Mangaluru, the next Port was Cochin Port. On the directions of the Chairman, NMPA Port Officials made all possible arrangements for the comfort and better experience of the cruise passengers. The passengers visited various tourist points in and around Mangaluru such as St Aloysius, Kadri temple, Kudroli Temple, local market, cashew factory, Udupi temple, Gomateshwara, 1000 Pillar Temple and Forum Fiza Mall. After savouring the ethnic tradition and cultural experience the passengers embarked back to their ship with fond memories of Mangalore and the cruise vessel sailed in the evening towards its next stop at Cochin Port.
Among the local sightseeing spots, was the newly added tourist spot, the Mangaluru Head Post Office Philatelic Bureau. Souvenirs were given to the cruise passengers by the port authorities, as fond memories of their visit to the coastal city, Mangaluru, while they were embarking back to their ship all set for their next destination. Apart from that, a group of passengers enjoyed their visit to the HPO Philatelic Bureau and browsed through the stamps on display at the post office. All the visitors bought picture postcards and posted it through letter boxes addressed to their respective addresses back home. The postage cost of picture postcards to any location in any country across the world is only Rs 15, and that price was peanuts for these foreigners, who bought a bunch of postcards and mailed it to their relatives and friends back home.
One of the cruise passengers, Steven Kent along with his wife speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “This place brought back memories of my younger days when we used to buy postcards or Christmas cards and mail them through postboxes. But after the internet and digital mode came in, the usage of postboxes or mailing letters became extinct. Today we are having some fun, affixing stamps to the postcards and sending them to our friends back home. We are sure that these postcards will be in our mailboxes back home when we reach in mid-January. Indian stamps are lovely to look at and we are all that a philatelic spot is included in the sightseeing agenda”.
Kimberley from Canada said, “What a lovely place to be, which brought back memories of yesteryears when sending letters/postcards was common, but all died later after the world became digital. I bought a few postcards here and posted them to my family members and friends back home and they will surely love getting something in their home mailboxes. The staff here at this City post office were very courteous and friendly and showed us a bunch of stamps and also explained the history of the stamps. We are glad that the travel arrangers had included this spot in their itinerary”.
Among the cruise passengers who visited the HPO were 2 Australians, two from Spain, and five from New York/Chicago-USA. The Head postmaster Shrinath Basroor extended a warm welcome to the guests and briefed them about the services provided by the India postal department, and the special services offered during the forthcoming Christmas season. Post office staff Ms Deepa explained to the visitors about their philatelic bureau and about the new postal stamps and stamps kit- and many of the visitors bought a few kits. The postal department staff were happy and excited to click a few snapshots with these pardesis and also a few selfies.
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