German cruise ship docks at Doha

Cruiseship TUI Mein Schiff 5 has visited Doha Port for the second time thisseason, carrying around 3,500 passengers, Qatar Ports Management Company(Mwani Qatar) has announced.The German vessel had previously dockedat Doha Port on November 22, making it the first mega ship of Qatar’s2017/2018 cruise season.Mein Schiff 5 measures 293m in length and rises 15 decks high.Othercruise ships that have arrived in Doha since the launch of the seasonon October 26 are Seabourn Encore, Azamara Journey and Crystal Symphony.Atotal of 21 cruise ships are expected to arrive at Doha Port thisseason, which runs until April 2018, according to an earlier statementby Mwani Qatar.The 2017/18 cruise schedule, which is available onMwani Qatar’s Twitter page, shows that Mein Schiff 5 is expected toarrive in Doha six more times during the season, including once moretowards the end of this month.Mein Schiff 5 is not the only megacruise ship to carry thousands of passengers to Doha. Italian mega shipMSC Splendida, which carries 3,900 passengers, is also scheduled to makesix calls to Doha Port this season, Gulf Times had reported earlier.Doha Port is set to receive a “record number of tourists”, Mwani Qatar recently said. From4,000 passengers in 2015, the port is expected to receive 60,000tourists this year, and the goal is to reach 500,000 passengers by 2022,it stressed.