Romancing the seas

The Philippines gets less tourists than it deserves. For instance, Singapore, with a population of only five million and land size equal to that of Metro Manila, is targeting 11.5 to 12.5 million visitor arrivals and Sin$17.5 to Sin$18.5 billion in tourism receipts for 2010. The Philippines, for all its beautiful scenery and 80-million-strong population, has 8.9 million tourists, including local tourists.

But we must be doing something right now, because cruise ships are now adding us to their itinerary.

Cruise ships are a boon to the ports, because they disgorge thousands of passengers on every port for shore excursions (which you pay for separately). The land tours and the shopping the passengers do on land bring a lot of revenue to the ports of call, and every time I would be on a cruise, I would wonder why not many cruise shops drop anchor at the Manila Harbor.

Not anymore.

The number one cruise company in Europe, the Italian flag-carrier Costa, has been sailing quietly to Manila since last year. Last Monday, Costa inaugurated the maiden voyage to Manila of its second ship to sail to these shores, the 698-cabin, 1,697-passenger Costa Romantica, one of its 14 luxury liners. It was a proud moment when the Romantica sailed to Manila Bay, for 140 members of its 400-strong crew of the Costa Romantica are Filipino — the largest group from any nation.

“Our guests always appreciate our Filipino crew,” Pietro Sinisi, the ship’s handsome captain, told this writer.

The Romantica dropped anchor at the Pier 13 in Port Area (not far from The Philippine Star office), and I swear that anywhere in the luxurious ship I stepped on, I felt I was in a five-star hotel on dry land.

It wasn’t just the size of the ship, it was also the setting — Manila Bay, the perfect nest for a ship.

Captain Pietro says Manila Bay is “deep enough, with many tugboats ready, with a nice and long port, favorable winds and not too much current.”

Manila Bay is a sailor’s paradise. Now, is it a tourist’s paradise? So far, the Costa ships (Classica and Romantica) have sailed only once to Manila. Hopefully, after its maiden voyage, Romantica will return.

The Philippines is hailed in the Costa brochures as standing out “for its Spanish culture and scenic beauty.”

The Romantica only docked for 12 hours in Manila, but extensive land tours to Tagaytay, Pagsanjan and Corregidor were offered.

Hopefully, the passengers enjoyed the tours and the hospitality of Filipinos — Manila Bay’s assets can’t be the only reason ships come a-calling in these shores.

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Credit must go to Zenaida Tantoco, president of the Philippine Italian Association, for drawing our attention to the Romantica’s visit. Before I actually stepped foot on Romantica, I thought we were largely ignored by the big cruise ships.

“There is now a demand to visit Manila,” said Costa’s sales director Dario Rustico during the inauguration of the ship’s Manila voyage. Special guest was Italian Ambassador Luca Fornari and his wife Silvana. After Manila, the ship was proceeding to Kota Kinabalu.

Dario says that Asia is now the flavor of the month of cruise ship travelers. In the ’80s it was the Caribbean; in the ’90s, it was the Mediterranean.

Costa will sail to over a dozen Asian destinations, including China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. (For inquiries, call Travel People at 400-2505 local 8109 to 8107.)

According to Pietro and Dario, it’s the Italian touch that sets Costa ships apart.

“We have the essence of Italian hospitality — the ability to entertain, and show you a good time, a love of art, gastronomic expertise, the ancient wisdom of spas and beauty.”

“Romance isn’t only in the air,” says Dario. “It’s on the seas, right here on the Romantica.”

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I am not a good swimmer but I am no stranger to the sea. Having spent my early childhood sailing at least once a year from Manila to Iloilo City (where we lived for five years) and back, I grew up feeling quite at home in ships. After school was over, we would then spend our summers visiting my grandparents in Oriental Mindoro, which was accessible only by a ferry boat from the Batangas pier. So you could say I did quite a bit of sailing in my youth — although those ferry boats to the Calapan pier were rickety vessels whose very scent would already make my sister retch. But when the skies were clear and the waters calm, it was a picturesque journey as we sailed past the now famous Verde Island — an ecological treasure — to Calapan.

As an adult, I’ve gone on a number of cruises in international waters — all memorable journeys. For those who do not get seasick easily, cruises are must-do’s in your lifetime. Cruise ships are destinations in themselves, with great buffets, Broadway theaters, gyms, casinos, swimming pools and basketball courts. They offer a double treat — you are already on holiday even before you step off the first port. It’s both a hotel and a means of conveyance, so you save on time and food costs, because food is part of the package. It’s a great way to tour because the ship travels at night, while you sleep (presumably!) and you don’t have to pack and unpack daily as in land tours, where you take a tourist bus to your destination and spend the night in hotels.

My husband also enjoyed going on cruises because after a day of land tours, it was always nice to come home to a cruise ship. It was another excursion in itself.

Now that Costa ships dock in Manila, Filipinos have two reasons to celebrate. Cruising is now more affordable to them, for one. And second, well, it’s about time we get all the foreign tourists our beautiful country deserves!

(You may e-mail me at [email protected])