The nation’s ports will be busier than usual over the next few months as a number of cruise ships arrive with thousands of tourists, harbor bureau officials said yesterday.
The Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau issued a statement yesterday saying that two Bahamas-registered cruise ships — the Delphin Voyager and Silver Whisper — are scheduled to arrive this morning and on Friday respectively.
Both ships, carrying about 680 overseas tourists between them, will arrive from Okinawa.
The bureau said the visitors would be greeted by the Tourism Bureau and Kaohsiung City Government, who have organized trips to some of the city’s tourist attractions, such as Cijin (旗津) and Sizihwan (西子灣).
Taichung Harbor Bureau director Wang Chun-yu (王俊友) said yesterday that two more cruise ships — the Legends of the Seas and Costa Classica — are scheduled to call at Taichung nine times between now and May, carrying mainly employees of Amway China.
The same two cruise ships will take Amway employees to Hualien, carrying approximately 1,600 passengers on each visit.
The Japan-registered Asuka II and Pacific Venus have applied to stop at Hualien Harbor.
Last year, only around 1,700 tourists disembarked at Hualien from international cruise ships. According to the Hualien Harbor Bureau, the number is likely to jump to 15,200 within the next three months.
Keelung Harbor Bureau Deputy Director-General Chen Fu-nan (陳福南) said the harbor is ready to accommodate Amway employees.
Chen said Star Cruises (麗星郵輪), the world’s third-largest cruise line carrier, would continue to stop at Keelung this year, despite having to travel via a third destination.
In related news, Taipei Harbor’s container center is scheduled to open next Monday.
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