Despite Covid fears, Indian cruises wait for a smooth sail

Foreign tourists and cruises go missing this sailing season that kicks off on October 1

With the unlock guidelines allowing leisure travel across the country, its anchors aweigh for domestic cruise liners, such as Angriya and Jalesh, albeit with caution.

There are enquiries coming in, mainly for sailing in November. The plan is to have our first voyage by the end of November, Captain Nitin Dhond, managing director of Angriya Cruises, told Business Standard.

Cruise season in India typically runs from October to May. Cruise is a relatively young leisure travel segment, with the current one being just the fourth season for domestic cruise liners.

We are engaged in studying the demand pattern that may pan out this season. We are in constant touch with our agents and taking cues from enquiries at our call centre, added Dhond.

Angriya Cruises normally ferries 350 passengers on its Mumbai-goa voyage and has been making 75-80 voyages every season. This year, it plans to charge between ~5,500 and ~12,000 per person per one-way trip and has no separate discount offers laid out, despite a likely tepid season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is yet to announce dates for the current season. Its 15-per cent discount given last season will get rolled over to this year as well.

We do not plan to have any (new) discounts, primarily because we have a sizeable fuel cost, which cannot be brought down. Moreover, this season being different from the previous one due to Covid-19, we will also be charging passengers over and above the ticket rates for tests that will be conducted before boarding, said Dhond. The government has laid down standard operating procedures for cruises to ensure zero Covid cases on board.

On the other hand, Jalesh Cruises, which has announced commencement of its cruise MV Karnika from November 6, will offer all passengers a free rapid Covid-19 test on embarkation day.

Jalesh Cruises is India’s first multi-destination cruise that covers Lakshadweep, Diu, Goa,

Apart from Mumbai Port Trust, other ports on the west coast that conduct cruises are New Mangalore Port, Mormugao Port, and Kochi Port, with typically 40 voyages, 130 voyages, and 60 voyages annually

apart from Mumbai.

There are no foreign tourists this year. Normally, European and Russians come in large numbers for the Goa voyage. This year, it is only Indian passengers. We do not know how many voyages we will have this season. It will be fewer than last year. We are adopting a wait-and-watch mode, said Dhond.

Jalesh Cruises, too, has invited Indians on board for its premium cruise Karnika, it said in a recent release.

Among ports, the Mumbai Port Trust is set to have two cruises kick off the sailing season.

According to government guidelines, we have reduced the rates by 50-60 per cent, said Gautam Dey, nodal officer for cruise ships at Mumbai

Port Trust.

With Jalesh and Angriya among others, Mumbai Port Trust gets close to 220 trips per season. This year, however, is expected to be the weakest, said port executives.

Like air traffic, cruises do not come under essential travel. They are a leisure travel option. Moreover, cruise travel is yet to gain traction in India, said Dey.

Apart from Mumbai Port Trust, other ports on the west coast that conduct cruises are New Mangalore Port, Mormugao Port, and Kochi Port, with typically 40 voyages, 130 voyages, and 60 voyages annually, respectively.

With regards to overseas cruises docking in Mumbai Port, Dey also said no foreign cruise has made any enquiry so far. Foreign cruises, he said, have not shared their plans for the season.

Mumbai Port sees around 65-70 foreign cruises annually from the Mediterranean, Gulf region such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and Singapore.

Costa Victoria and Celebrity Constellation are some of the cruise liners regularly docking in Mumbai Port.

We are yet to declare the date for allowing cruises to dock in New Mangalore port. That decision is to be taken by a team, but the tariff has been reduced by 25 per cent, Y R Belagal, traffic manager at New Mangalore Port, said.