Mangalore : M.V. Legend Of The Seas with 1707 passengers and 795 crew and M.V. Pacific Princess with 585 passengers and 378 crew called at New Mangalore Port on April 13, Saturday. This is the 3rd and 4th cruise vessel calling at the port during the beginning of the current financial year 2013-14. The next vessel is expected to call at the Port on 15-4-2013.
Legend of the Seas with passengers from 40 nations including US, Canara and UK, arrived from Cochin and Pacific Princess with passengers from US and UK, came from Phucket ( an Island in Thailand). Around 2000 passengers and crew opted for ground tour arranged by the local tour operators and they have visited various locations in and around Mangalore like Mangaladevi temple, Gokarnatha temple, St. Aloysius Chapel, Cashew processing units, Monolithic statue of lord Bahubali at Karkala, Soans farm and 1000 pillar Jain Basadi at Moodabidri, city shopping, etc. After enjoying the scenic beauty of Mangalore, the passengers returned to the vessel which sailed out to Goa.
Dr. P. Tamilvanan, Chairman along with Traffic Manager and Deputy Traffic Manager welcomed the vessels by presenting bouquets to the Captains. A press release from NMPT said the captain and passengers of the vessel were very much impressed upon the world class facilities available at the Cruise Lounge, neat and tidy berth area, concretised roads, security arrangements, emigration facility, greenery in and around the port, availability of local ground tour operators, proximity to tourist areas, etc. The tourists also expressed satisfaction over their short stay at Mangalore and said they enjoyed the visit to the tourist areas.
