Luxury cruise to set sail from Mangalore shores

The coastal city of Mangalore will have another feather in its cap as a tourist destination—cruise ships that are counted among the world’s best are set to start operation at the New Mangalore Port.
The port trust said one of the largest cruise ships, MV Brilliance, is expected to arrive at the port on April 1, 2012.

The representatives of one of the leading cruise operators, Royal Caribbean International, visited the port on Tuesday. They spoke to the port chairman, traffic manager and deputy conservator and the representatives of the vessel agent.

Adam Sharp, manager of Royal Caribbean, was impressed with the facilities and they have made plans to bring 13 cruise ships over the next year. The first ship is scheduled to arrive at the port on December 12 this year.

Chairman of the New Mangalore Port, Tamilvanan, told DNA that the cruise companies that were hunting for new locations to start business found Mangalore quite enchanting, especially the churches, the coast and the heritage spots in Moodbidri. He said the city’s cuisine, too, was preparing to cater to tourists.
The New Mangalore Port saw 14 cruise ships in 2010-11 with 5,854 tourists.

About 70% of these tourists visited various tourist places in and around Mangalore, such as the 1,000-pillar Jain temple, Soans Farm in Moodbidri, Gokarnanatha temple, St Aloysius chapel, Kadri temple and cashew factories.

MV Brilliance, which is set to arrive at the Mangalore port next year, is 293.5-metres long and can accommodate up to 2,000 passengers. It has 500 crew members on board.