Qatar welcomed the second ship this cruise season with the arrival of luxury cruise ship Azamara Journey in Doha Port early morning yesterday.

With 724 tourists aboard, the ship is on a ten-day voyage in the Gulf region. It came from Manama Bahrain and will be heading to Abu Dhabi after a day’s stay in Doha.
Owned and operated by Azamara Club Cruises, the 181m-long mid-sized Azamara Journey is an 11-decked R-class cruise ship built in 2000 carrying more than 400 crew members. It has a range of spacious suites, many of which feature a private veranda and all offering complimentary butler service.

The first ship which arrived this season was The World- the largest private residential ship -which docked in Doha Port on October 18.

Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) said in a statement yesterday that joint efforts among concerned entities had contributed to facilitate the procedures and provide best services to the passengers.

With close collaboration among the Ministry of Interior, Mwani Qatar and Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), Qatar is currently implementing new procedures to ease the entry of cruise passengers arriving at its ports as huge number of cruise passengers are expected this cruise season.

Azamara Journey is only the second of the 32 ships scheduled to moor in Qatar this cruise season which started last month and ends in April next year. The country’s busiest cruise season yet will see over 50,000 passengers marking a three-fold increase in the number of ships and an increase of over 1,000 percent in the expected number of passengers from the previous season.

Under the new procedure, a passenger manifest containing passport details of passengers and crew is shared with immigration officials 48 hours before the ship’s arrival. This allows immigration officials to process all relevant information and clear passengers for entry before the ship docks.

Due to the short duration of their stay, cruise passengers are also eligible for transit visas, which further eases their entry into the country. (Source)

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