Passengers of 740-Cabin Ship Descend on Preah Sihanouk

The largest cruise ship ever to visit Cambodia dropped anchor off Sihanoukville Autonomous Port on Monday carrying 2,634 tourists, though the ship left the same day destined for Vietnam, officials said.

Preah Sihanouk provincial police chief Tak Vantha said the Diamond Princess cruise ship, together with its 740 balcony-fitted rooms, arrived at 10 am on Monday with people from 34 countries on board.

?I feel happy to see such a huge amount of tourists visit our country. Our country is now peaceful and anyone can come and visit,? he said, adding that police had recently tightened security so tourists can visit the costal province in safety.

However, the hordes of cruise travelers stayed for only nine hours, briefly making a shopping trip into Preah Sihanouk city and spending some time on O?Chheuteal beach before departing at 7 pm, Top So-vann, chief of the immigration department at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port said.

Government officials are currently trying to schedule flights from Sihanouk International Airport so that tourists on cruise ships have access to the temples at Angkor, which might encourage them to stay longer in the country.

Mr Sovann said the Diamond Princess was the second cruise ship to dock at the port this month. The next one is scheduled to arrive in January. He added that 23 cruise ships had docked at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in the first nine months of the year, bringing a total of about 20,000 seafaring tourists to the country.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the Diamond Princess was not able to dock due to windy conditions. Smaller boats were therefore used to bring the tourists to the mainland, he said.
?This is the largest number of people to land at one time,? he said. 'We welcome them in.?

Sourced = The Cambodia Daily