Sri Lanka’s cruise tourism segment ended the year on a high note with another cruise ship the ‘Silver Spirit’ under the ownership of the Lefebvre Family (Rome, Italy) and operated by Silversea Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) calling at Colombo Port yesterday.
Silver Spirit consists of 270 cabins and 412 crew members are on board to serve the cruise guests. This luxurious cruise ship can carry 608 passengers (on double occupancy) and 648 (maximum passengers) onboard.
The 16-day voyage, operated on the theme “New Year cruise”, will be in Colombo for two nights and then on December 26 she will be enjoying the taste of Ceylon tea, the Colombo city walk, the Temple of Kelaniya, shopping experiences coupled with live music, and high tea.
The ship will then dock at the port of Trincomalee on December 26, permitting the clients to bask and enjoy the Eastern splendour of Sri Lanka. Leaving the port of Trincomalee the Silver Spirit will continue its voyage across Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. The local ground operations are managed by Micato India and Aitken Spence Travels.
Since November 16, Aitken Spence Travels has handled four ships with a combined number of 5,000 guests.
Aitken Spence Travels will welcome 19 other cruise calls and end the cruise season by May 2023.
Cruise calls of this nature are an important element of tourism to Sri Lanka as stakeholders such as the transporters, hoteliers, wildlife parks, jeep drivers, excursion providers, cultural show artists, and guides stand to benefit while also allowing indirect suppliers to benefit economically.