Walkers Tours readies to welcome two mega cruises

MS Amera

MS Artania

• Starting from today Germany’s MS Amera and MS Artania will undertake passenger exchanges for the first time in Sri Lanka after a long absence

Walkers Tours, a leading destination management company, is readying to welcome two cruises, MS Amera and MS Artania belonging to the Phoenix Reisen, Germany.

The cruises carrying German nationals are expected to arrive this week and the third week of January.

MS Amera, a mid-sized premium category passenger cruise vessel with the capacity of 835 passengers and 440 crew members will call at Colombo on 12 January. She will stay in Colombo Port and leave on 13 January. There will be over 250 passengers disembarking and over 250 embarking the ship.

Shore excursions are planned for both 12 and 13 January for the passengers, and they will be visiting some key tourist sites in Sri Lanka including Negombo, Colombo and Kandy. This is the first passenger exchange happening in Sri Lanka after a long time in the country.

The second passenger exchange will take place with the arrival of MS Artania, a large premium category passenger cruise vessel with the capacity of 1,260 passengers and 535 crew members. She calls to Colombo on 18 January and leaves Colombo on 20 January for Hambantota for a day call on 21 January, which altogether is a four-day call in Sri Lanka.

MS Artenia’s passenger exchange will take place in Colombo on 19 January with over 150 passengers disembarking and over 700 passengers embarking. There are shore excursions planned for the passengers on both 19 and 20 January in Colombo and 21 January in Hambantota. They will be visiting some of Sri Lanka’s highlights including Negombo, Colombo, Kandy, Udawalawe, Kataragama and Dickwella.

“Passenger exchanges are rare in Sri Lanka, as rare as one in 100 regular calls, and it is noteworthy that two passenger exchanges will be taking place one week apart as we begin a new year. This is a rare opportunity for the island to make way for income generation via value added products such as pre/post cruise lounge facilities, and the ships staying multiple days in Sri Lanka would mean a large influx of revenue in comparison to a normal day call in Sri Lanka,” a spokesman for Walkers Tours said.