Welcome to Kudla! The First Cruise Ship of the Season ‘ SEVEN SEAS NAVIGATOR’ of Oceana Group, with 500 plus Passengers/350 Crew Arrived at New Mangalore Port on Friday, 8 December 2023 at 8 am
Mangaluru: Among the Ten cruise liners scheduled for this season 2023-2024, the FIRST Cruise ship of the Season ‘SEVEN SEAS NAVIGATOR’ of Oceana Group docked at New Mangalore Port, with 500 plus passengers and 350 crew on board on Friday 8 December 2023 at 8 am. Seven Seas Navigator is a luxury cruise ship operated by Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which entered service for Radisson Seven Seas Cruises in 1999. In 2004, the ship was featured and used as a focal point for the movie “After the Sunset”, and the movie starred Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek. In the spring of 2006, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises rebranded as Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The Seven Seas Navigator continues to sail under the brand Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The Navigator underwent a $40 million refurbishment in March/April 2016 that upgraded the common areas and suites.
Seven Seas Navigator had departing from Dubai, Port Rashid-Dubai Harbour, UAE hotels on 1 December; 02 Dec – 10:00 Dubai, Port Rashid-Dubai Harbour, UAE; 05 Dec 08:00 – 06 Dec 17:00 Mumbai; 07 Dec 09:30 – 19:00 Mormugao, Goa; 08 Dec 08:30 – 18:00 Mangaluru; 09 Dec 08:00 – 17:00 Cochin; 10 Dec 13:30 – 11 Dec 18:00 Colombo, Sri Lanka; 14 Dec 18:00 – 15 Dec 18:00 Phuket, Thailand; 16 Dec 07:00 – 17:00 Pulau Langkawi Island, Malaysia Kedah; 17 Dec 07:00 – 17:00 Pulau Penang Island, Georgetown, Malaysia Penang; 18 Dec 08:00 – 19 Dec 16:00 Klang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Selangor; 20 Dec 09:00 – 18:00 Pulau Bintan Island Indonesia, Tanjung Pinang, Riau; 21 Dec 08:00 Singapore; and on 22 Dec Arriving in Singapore.
On arrival at the Port, the passengers were welcomed in a traditional Mangalorean style, to the beating of Chende and Arathi, which took the passengers into full excitement, and many were all ready for snapshots and selfies. New Mangalore Port along with the Ministry of Tourism Karnataka state & India Tourism Bengaluru office, organised a traditional welcome to the guests at the arrival berth. Guests also enjoyed a free Yoga session organised by the Ministry of Ayush in collaboration with Yenepoya University. 20 passengers joined the ship after an overland tour of Agra – Taj Mahal.
The local sightseeing tour for the passengers was arranged by M/s Lia Travels, Bejai, Mangaluru under the able leadership of Ms Eulalia D’souza, the Proprietor of Lia Travels. While a bunch of passengers opted for shore excursions like Karkala Gomateshwara, Soans Farm & Thousand Pillar temple in Moodbidri and few other places there, quite a few visited the local Achal cashew factory, Gokarnanatha temple, St. Aloysius Chapel, Rosario Cathedral; Local ancestral house Belmont of the Peres Family at Balmatta, M Pais & Sons the Vintage Store, where the owner Keith Pais briefed the guests about the 140 years Vintage Wine store since 1880, local fruits and vegetables market & few local shops, MCC bank & post office. Few of them also enjoyed a ride in the local auto rickshaws.
A few guests had the opportunity to have lunch with Ms Eulalia D’souza’s family, joined by her husband Donnette and Son Eldon, where the guests feasted on local Mangalorean cuisine comprising of Mutton Stew, Chicken Sukka, Neer Dosa, Salad, Kashi Halwa, and of course the world-famous Ideal Ice Cream, where a Canadian couple said, ” This Ice Cream is awesome and delicious, way much better than other ice creams”. Kudos to Ideal Ice Cream for creating an Ice Cream delicacy which beats the rest of the Ice Creams around the world. Ms Eula also showed these foreigners the technique of preparing Neer Dosa, and her son Eldon, showed his magical tricks of grating a coconut. He is truly a genius, apart from his musical talents!
NMPA Chairman A.V. Ramana had said a positive tour experience would encourage cruise tourists to share their experience back home thereby enhancing cruise liners’ visits to Mangaluru. Therefore, the stakeholders concerned should strive to provide cruise tourists with the best experiences. Ramana urged the stakeholders to collaborate and align their efforts with the government’s tourism development initiatives. A statement from NMPA said the sensitisation programme was designed to raise awareness about the importance of cruise tourism and enhance collaboration among the various stakeholders involved in handling the cruise passengers and ships, with specific reference to the implementation of standard operating procedure (SOP) for the movement of cruise vessels and cruise passengers.
Yours Truly of Team Mangalorean had a nice time interacting with a few of the passengers, who were all in high praise of the friendliness and kind gesture shown by the Indians, including Mangaloreans during their stay. Anthony and his wife Mary Thompsom from Chicago, USA married for 35 years, and taking their first trip to India said, ” Totally excited and overwhelmed during all these days in India, where people are simply friendly, courteous and warm-hearted. I loved Mumbai even though it was crowded, but the fast-moving life on the streets is amazing, unlike in Chicago, we all sit inside the car and move around. The food was spicy, we loved Tandoori Chicken and hot chai. We will be back if we get another chance”.
Scott Macmillan and Mertedith Ralston from Canada, married for 29 years said, “Even though we have taken cruise trips to Bahamas, Caribbean, European countries, our journey across India so far was very unique and making friends with unique people, who were down to earth and amazing. Loved the clothing of the Indian women, and regarding vegetarian food, we loved the Dal Tadka, Gobi Manchurian and spicy Rasam. We will surely enjoy the rest of the days on this tour across India, and Goa was unbelievable”.
Ms Emma (69)and Ramon (71) Buenaventura from the Philippines but settled in Canada, and married for 46 years, this is their second trip to India said, ” Last trip to India we travelled the North part of India like Delhi, Rajasthan, among others, this time we wanted to explore the Southern beauty of India, and so far it has been truly fantastic, especially the fun and frolic in Goa. We loved the Naan and Rotis, which went great with Chicken curries and Rogan josh. Shrimp ghee roast made us both run to the toilet a few times, but we loved the delicacy”.
“This Vanilla Ideal Ice Cream is Awesome & Delicious than other ice creams”- Steve & Anne Gent, UK
Anne and Steve Gent from Manchester, UK, married for 26 years, this cruise tour to India which was their maiden said, “More than anything, the love and friendship shown by the people here in the last few days was simply heart touching and we loved every bit of the time we spent with the people we met here. We both love spicy food since we have tried it at Indian restaurants in the UK, but the authentic taste in India was mouth-watering, especially the taste of Butter chicken we tried in Mumbai. For our next trip to India, we will plan on exploring the Northern part of India, including Kashmir”.
Mrs Eulalia D’Souza speaking to Team Mangalorean said that they had a successful tourism season last year and all the passengers were happy with their tour of the City, and expressed good compliments about their few hour’s stay in Mangaluru. No doubt, Lia Travels is doing the job right with the right crew!