After the arrival of the first cruise ship, MV SEABOURN ENCORE, a seemingly queue of cruise ships arrive thereafter. There are more arrivals soon as announced by the City Tourism Office and by the Department of Tourism.

Let us review the cruise ships that made its port of call in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan which we consider as a harbinger of good things to come after the pandemic – a kind of catalyst for the expected tourism boom, we hope.

1. MS Seven Seas Mariner of Regent Seven Seas Cruises arrived last March 7, 2023. The ship has a capacity of 700 guests. The cruise ship is operated by Regent Seven Seas Cruises registered in Nassau, Bahamas with an impressive staff to guest ratio of 1 to 1.6. She was the first all-suite, all-balcony ship in the world, and was awarded “Ship of the Year” in 2002 by Ocean and Cruise News. Also, she was the first to offer dining by the famous Le Cordon Bleu of Paris in one of the onboard restaurants. It made news in 2009 when it rescued an around-the-world sailor from a crippled sailing yacht west of New Zealand.

2. MS Nautica of Oceana Cruises arrived last March 5, 2023 to the delight of tourist on board and local tourism workers. She is described as the world’s leading culinary-and-destination focused cruise line. She was built in 2000 by the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The cruise ship has a capacity of 824 passengers. MS Nautica became a news item when on November 30, 2008 while sailing on the Gulf of Aden, she came under attack by Somali pirates, but was able to escape without any injuries to passenger or crew.

3. MS Arcadia of P&O Cruises fleet was welcomed with dances and performances when it arrived in the morning of March 4, 2023. The ship was built by Fincantieri at their shipyard in Marghera, Italy. The ship entered service in April 2005. It brought an estimated 2,960 guests and crew. Accordingly its maximum passenger capacity is at 2,388 and has a crew of 976.

4. MS WESTERDAM brought with it 1,800 passengers and was eagerly welcomed in the morning of March 2, 2023. It’s the second cruise ship that arrive in the city. She is a Vista-class cruise ship owned by Holland America Line and the third ship to bear the name Westerdam. She was christened on April 25, 2004 in Venice, Italy by Dutch actress Renee Soutendijk.

More cruise ships are coming and we hope the passengers would come back later to visit Palawan longer than the stop-over time. We are sure they like the welcome parade.

All photos credits to Puerto Princesa Tourism Facebook page.