Luxury cruise vessel m.v. Aida Diva with 1,975 passengers and 598 crew members called at the New Mangalore Port on Saturday.

A press release by Mr S. Gopalakrishna, Traffic Manager of New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), said this is the biggest cruise vessel ever to berth at the port.

The vessel started its journey from Muscat and called at Goa. From there, the vessel called at New Mangalore Port on Saturday morning.

Of the 1,975 passengers from Germany, around 1,200 passengers opted for a ground tour. They visited the thousand-pillar Jain Temple and the monolithic statue of Lord Gomateshwara in Moodbidri town, Gokarnanatha Temple, St. Aloysius Chapel, Kadri Temple, and a cashew factory in Mangalore.

These tourists were taken around in 40 buses by the local ground tour operators, Globe International, and the agents of the ship, J.M. Baxi & Co.

It may be mentioned here that a team from the tour operator Royal Caribbean International had visited NMPT twice this year and had discussions with the Chairman and Traffic Manager of NMPT.

The release said Royal Caribbean International has already begun its plan to bring 12 more cruise vessels in the next one year period. The biggest vessel — m.v. Brilliance of the Seas — with 3,000 passengers, is expected to call at the port in April. This will be the biggest cruise vessel ever handled at the port, it said.

Quoting Mr P. Tamilvanan, Chairman of NMPT, the release said the captain of m.v. Aida Diva has expressed happiness over the facilities available at NMPT.

Related Topics