Voyager Of The Seas First Cruise Liner Visit In 2020
Local agents Transam (Fiji) Pte Limited Keanu Fiji Manager, Leone Naivalu, said Australian passengers recorded the highest number with 3432 onboard.
Thursday 02 January 2020 | 22:34
The Voyager of the Seas berth at the Port of Lautoka on January 2,2020. Photo: Salote Qalubau
Voyager of the Seas berthed at the Port of Lautoka yesterday, bringing with it approximately 3853 passengers from 42 different countries.
Local agents Transam (Fiji) Pte Limited Keanu Fiji Manager, Leone Naivalu, said Australian passengers recorded the highest number with 3432 onboard.
The vessel is the first to visit the country this year.
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It left Sydney, Australia on December 29 last year and berthed at the Port of Lautoka around 10am. It left for Suva at 7pm and was expected to berth at the Port of Suva at 8am today before departing at 5pm for Mare Island in New Caledonia.
Passengers Sara Emberton and her partner Jason Cullen are visiting Fiji for the first time.
“We love it here and it’s really pretty but it’s a lot more humid with dry heat here compared to where we live in South Australia, Adelaide,” Ms Emberton said.
“There are shuttles all day but we have to be back at the port by 6pm, so we’ve got enough time to just explore the city. I’ve just finished studying law so I saw the High Court on the drive here to the city and I got really excited about that.
“I did a Bachelor of Law and Legal Practice and a Bachelor of Business. I’ve already started work but I’m just having a bit of a holiday with my partner before we head back.”
Lautoka taxi driver Davendra Mudaliar, said about 30 taxis from Lautoka were parked outside the port waiting for passengers.
He hopes more ships will come to Lautoka this year.
“Business was very good around October to November last year. We had about 10 to 17 ships arriving and the good thing is that the port officers usually give us the list to let us know of the number ships coming in this year and if any will be diverting,” he said.
Voyager of the Seas has a crew of 1268.
The vessel is expected to be in Mare Island, New Caledonia on January 5, Mystery Island Vanuatu on January 6, Lifou New Caledonia on January 7 and back in Sydney, Australia on January 10.
Edited by Ivamere Nataro
Feedback: salote.qalubau@fijisun.com.fj
