Seventh Cruise Ship of the Year, ‘MV INSIGNIA’ arrives at New Mangalore Port
Mangaluru: “MV INSIGNIA” the seventh cruise vessel of the current season, arrived today morning at 0800 hours in the Port. The Marshall Island flagged ship carrying 466 passengers & 399 crew members berthed alongside berth no. 04 in the Port. Sailing from Fujairah & Mumbai Ports, the vessel’s last Port of call was Mormugao Port and after leaving from Mangalore the ship will sail to Cochin Port.
The overall length of the ship is 180.05 meters with a carrying capacity of 30,277 Gross Tonnage & has a draft of 6 meters. The ship is owned & operated by Oceania Cruises, headquartered in Miami which is a subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., a diversified cruise operator of leading global cruise brands which include Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
The cruise passengers were given a traditional welcome by playing the drums while disembarking from the ship. Various arrangements were done for the pleasant experience of the cruise passengers such as; medical screening of passengers, multiple immigration & customs counters for swift movement, and buses & taxis for passengers for touring various locations in & around Mangalore city. The cruise passengers availed benefits of the meditation centre set up by the Department of AYUSH inside the cruise lounge. Clothe & handicraft outlets were also kept open for the tourists. Tourists clicked photos in front of the selfie point set up by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India. For entertaining the passengers the Port had arranged a Yakshagana performance in the cruise lounge.
The passengers visited various tourist destinations such as; Achal Cashew Factory, Kudroli Gokarmatheshwara Temple, St. Aloysius Chapel, the Local market, Pilikula Artisan Village, Thousand Pillars Basadi and Soans Farm. Souvenirs were given to the cruise passengers while they were embarking back to their ship, in reminiscence of their visit to Mangalore. The ship sailed at 1630HRS to its next destination to Cochin Port.
