PALOMPON, LEYTE, Philippines – Another luxury cruise ship is scheduled to make a stopover at Kalanggaman Island here today (May 1), after the island got the attention of the management of the German 6-star luxury ship MS Europa last April 26.
Mayor Ramon Onate has confirmed the stopover, saying the municipal tourism office is now finalizing arrangements with the ship management today.
This time, the smaller but still luxurious liner MS Bremen, another ship owned by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises of Germany, will be bringing about 150 European tourists to the beautiful island that boasts of its white sand beach and a challenging dive on its “cliff†at its other side.
The Kalanggaman stopover was thrown in as part of MS Bremen’s “Jewels of the Pacific Ocean†tour, which took off from Guam last April 21, and made stopovers at Micronesia and Palau.
As of press time, the MS Bremen is in Bohol. It will sail to Malapascua in Cebu before going to Kalanggaman Island. Thereafter, it would travel to the Calamian Group of Islands and do island hops to Coron, Cullion, Malcapuya and Sangat islands.
MS Bremen’s last stop in the country will be the Apo Reef in Pandan Islands before returning to Manila where the tourists would disembark and fly back to Frankfurt, Germany.
The liner’s website says the cruise package is from 5,500 to 7,000 Euros, excluding airfare to Guam where they set sail and back to where they came from.
MS Bremen is the second luxury cruise ship to stop over Kalanggaman. Last April 26, the MS Europa made the historic first stop where a crew member planted a marker at the welcome sign on the island.
Vice Mayor Georgina Arevalo said that, during MS Europa’s stopover, the town earned P163,000 from entrance fees of the more than 300 tourists and 80 crew members who visited the island.
Meanwhile, Tourism Undersecretary Ma. Victoria Jasmin was enthusiastic about Kalanggaman in a visit there last Friday (April 26).
Jasmin was in Leyte and Samar to assess the gains of the Canadian-assisted tourism initiatives here, and inaugurate two jetty ports in Basey, Samar on Saturday together with An Waray party-list Rep. Neil Benedict Montejo who reportedly lobbied for its funding.
The jetty ports will make it comfortable for tourists to go to the famed Sohoton Cave in Samar and back. (FREEMAN)