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Asia Pacific
Star Cruises ‘first to operate from India’
Asian line Star Cruises claims to be the only company to be running regular cruises from India this winter.
The world’s third largest cruise group is to use former Norwegian Cruise Line ship Norwegian Sea to operate from Mumbai between October 2 and April, 2006.
The Star Cruises Group is parent company of NCL and Orient Lines and is renaming the vessel SuperStarLibra. Star is transferring a further five NCL ships to its Asia fleet.
SuperStarLibra will run one, two and four-night itineraries including calls at Kadmat in the Lakshadweep island system and Goa.
Star’s European sales and marketing director Mick Dupont said: “India is a popular destination for UK travellers and due to Indian government restrictions, has not previously been a high profile cruise destination.
“The waiver of such restrictions for Star Cruises means that we will be the only cruise line offering a regular programme of cruises to this beautiful and diverse country.
“These cruises will compliment land packages in the region and maximise the destination experience for UK travellers to India offering a mixture of the vibrant cities of India, exotic beaches and the ecological heritage lagoons of the Lakshadweep Island system.”
He added that almost three quarters of the line’s UK passengers have never cruised before.
“We are coming into some really exciting times for cruising in the Far East and the region is rapidly becoming a gateway to the cruise experience – around 70% of UK passengers with Star Cruises are first time cruisers,” said Mr Dupont.
“Expanding the range of countries offered by Star Cruises to include India increases our footprint in the Far East and ensures that we remain the best option for travellers who are looking to cruise in Asia.”
Sailing from Singapore, SuperStar Libra will offer a repositional cruise calling at Phuket in Thailand, Chennai in India, and Colombo in Sri Lanka, before arriving in Mumbai on September 25. There will then be a series of one-night cruises to showcase the ship before the regular itinerary of four-night cruises calling at Kadmat in the Lakshadweep island system, and Goa, and two-night cruises to Goa begins.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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