India's first luxury cruise liner to start from September 18

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to launch India’s first indigenous cruise liner in collaboration with a private company.

IRCTC has partnered with Cordelia Cruises to begin the first cruise from 18 September for which bookings can be done on the IRCTC website - http://www.irctctourism.com. 

Cordelia Cruises is being operated by M/s Waterways Leisure Tourism Pvt. Ltd for promotion and marketing of the first indigenous luxury cruise in India.

This is another incredible luxury travel offering under IRCTC's umbrella of tourism services to the public, the railway PSU said in a statement.

IRCTC said guests onboard the ship will have an experience of sailing to some of the best Indian and international destinations.

In the first phase, it will sail through Indian destinations with its base at Mumbai, while later from May 2022 the cruise will be shifted to Chennai and set sail to destinations in Sri Lanka like Colombo, Galle, Trincomalee and Jaffna.

Some of the popular tour itineraries of Cordelia Cruises are Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai, Mumbai-Diu-Mumbai, Mumbai-At sea-Mumbai, Kochi-Lakshadweep - At sea - Mumbai, Mumbai-At sea-Lakshadweep- At sea -Mumbai among others.

While travelling on Cordelia Cruises, one can enjoy a lot of recreational and leisure activities such as restaurants, swimming pools, bars, open cinemas, theatre, kids area, gymnasium, the statement said.

Amid the ongoing pandemic, the staff and tourists would have to follow the COVID-related protocols.

As per the norms, the crew members must be fully vaccinated and daily health checks for the crew members, hourly sanitisation of the facilities, air-filtration and social distancing norms would also be followed.

The number of guests will also be limited according to the official mandate by the government.

There is also a fully-functional medical centre onboard the cruise equipped with all the required medical essential items.

Besides, the luxury cruises in India, IRCTC is also in the process of signing agreements with all major international cruise liners and will provide their bookings on its web portal as soon as the COVID-19 situation normalises and the international cruises start their operations.