Two Luxury Cruise Vessels call at NMPT
Mangaluru: M V Costa Victoria with 1771 passengers and 809 crew and M V Insignia with 612 passengers and 407 crew called at the New Mangalore Port on March 3.
This is the 19th and 20th cruise vessel calling at the port during the current financial year 2017-18. Both the vessels are berthed at the alongside berths of the Port – 2 to 4.
Costa Victoria– an Italian cruise vessel with passengers representing 35 Nations of the world in which majority from France, Dutch and Germany came from Colombo and will be sailing out today evening to Salalah.
M V Insignia– a Norwegian cruise liner with passengers from US and Canada came from Male and will be sailing today evening to Cochin. Around 1300 passengers from these two vessels opted for ground tour arranged by the local tour operator – M/s Globe Travels and they have visited various locations in and around Mangalore like Mangaladevi temple, Gokarnanatha temple, St Aloysius Chapel, Cashew processing units, Monolithic statue of Lord Bahubali at Karkala, Soans farm and 1000 pillar Jain Basadi at Moodabidri, Belmont House at Balmatta, city shopping, etc. After enjoying the scenic beauty of Mangalore, the passengers returned to their respective vessels and sailed out to the next port.
Suresh P Shirwadkar, Chairman i/c while recalling the steady growth of cruise vessels calling at the Port has informed that during the current financial year 2017-18(as on today) 20 cruise vessels called at the Port with 20,400 passengers. The next vessel is scheduled to call at the Port on 6 March 2018.
The captain and passengers of the vessel are very much impressed upon the facilities available at the Cruise Lounge, neat and tidy berth area, concretised roads, security arrangements, Immigration facility, greenery in and around the port, availability of local ground tour operators, proximity to tourist areas, etc. During the interaction, the passengers have expressed their satisfaction over their short stay at Mangalore.
Cruise Liners, regardless of their size and capacity, bring lots of glamor and popularity to the calling ports, and also bring sufficient revenue for the Port. Passengers on board the Cruize Liner hail from different countries that bring the goodwill and friendship to Mangalore Port. Passengers are obliged to take an Excursion Tour of Mangalore and they are obliged to spend their foreign currency in and around Mangalore and carry with them various souvenirs and memorabilias to their families and friends. Different ports have different ways to entertain the visiting Cruize passengers, and attract them with various local talents and local souvenirs including various local souvenirs.
Let the Port give their very best to the visiting Cruize Lines so that the name of Mangalore will continue to spread all across the world and let there be more cruizes lined up to take berth at Mangalore port.