Cruise vessel AIDA Cara, with 1,135 passengers and 376 crew on board, called at the New Mangalore Port on Saturday, marking the beginning of the cruise season from October to April. A majority of the tourists were from Germany.
Tourist spots
As many as 1,025 passengers opted to visit tourist spots such as the 1,000-pillar Jain temple at Moodbidri, monolithic statue of Bahubali at Karkala, Udupi Sri Krishna temple, St. Aloysius Chapel, Kudroli Gokarnanatha temple, Kadri temple, cashew factory at Baikampady Industrial Area, and went shopping at malls before returning to the ship that sailed out at 6 p.m. to Kochi.
The luxury cruise vessel called at Mangalore from Goa. An NMPT press release said that the passengers enjoyed the scenic beauty of Mangalore and the hospitality extended to them during their short visit to this city. They expressed their wish to visit these places again. The cruise traffic at NMPT is steadily increasing in the past few years. The modern cruise terminal added by the port recently is being utilised by the passengers, the release said.
Welcomed
NMPT Chairman P. Tamilvanan welcomed the first cruise vessel of the season by presenting a bouquet to the captain of the vessel and sought his feedback on the ship’s short stay at NMPT. The captain was pleased with the infrastructure at the port for the smooth handling of cruise vessels and promised to call at NMPT again next year.
