Cruise ship with 1,900 tourists docks at port, 4 more expected

MV Bolette cruise ship after docking with visitors at the Port of Mombasa in Mombasa County on December 28, 2023. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

MSC, which has a strong presence in Kenya, employs thousands of Kenyan seafarers to work on its cruise and cargo ships and has several of its cargo vessels dominating port calls to Mombasa.

Disembarking tourists left for Masai Mara, Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks while others went on city tours.

Peter Woodhouse and Erica Woodhouse from the United Kingdom expressed their delight to be back in Kenya for a holiday.

''We are not new here. We used to live and work in your beautiful city of Mombasa. We are certain that much has changed over time. I still remember the famous elephant tusks, Fort Jesus, Likoni ferry, and the Mombasa Beach Hotel where we used to stay on short vacations," said Peter, who worked with the East African Power and Utility Company then.

He said that they started their journey from Southampton and cruised to the Mediterranean before joining the Suez Canal down to the Red Sea, India, and then to Seychelles.

KTB CEO said that they were keen to have more cruise ships call at the port of Mombasa to boost the country's economy.