East London’s cruise liner season began on Wednesday when the first of an expected eight cruise liners, due between now and March, docked in the city.
Almost 300 passengers disembarked from the MV Europa 2, owned by German-based cruise liner Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, to explore the city.
Tour operator Akorn arranged with local tour operators to have a number of buses waiting at the harbour early on Wednesday morning to whisk the tourists off on half-day tours exploring the city and its surrounds.
A natural history tour, a trip to Inkwenkwezi Private Game Reserve, a visit to the Khaya La Bantu Xhosa Cultural Village in Chintsa, the Mercedes-Benz factory, an East London art tour, a kayak adventure and a trip to Hemingways and Nahoon beach were all on offer.
“The MV Europa 2 carries 491 passengers and has 377 crew on board. At 225-metres long, it is 30m longer than any previous cruise liner to have docked in EL,” says Transnet’s EL Port spokesperson Terry Taylor.
He explained that the cruise ship was in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday and will next dock in Durban before heading off to Richards Bay and then the islands of Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritius and Seychelles. Its final destination is Sri Lanka.
According to Taylor, East London is a great city for cruise liner land trips as within 30 minutes a tour bus can take visitors to anything from a game drive to a golf course to a beach.
“And the benefits of these tourists spending their money in our city is huge,” he added.
The next cruise liner due in East London is the MV Amadea, scheduled to arrive on November 19. — DDR..