MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Two of the largest cruises vessels call in Montevideo

Cruise Queen Mary 2 will call Montevideo next Sunday

Two of the world's most impressive cruise vessels will be calling in Montevideo this week with over 7.000 visitors and 2.400 crew members. They are “Mariner of the Seas”, which is scheduled to spend next Thursday in Uruguay's capital, and on Sunday, “Queen Mary 2” on a 114 day global tour.

Royal Caribbean's majestic Voyager class "Mariner of the Seas" has a gross tonnage of 138.000 tons, is 311 metres long with a maximum beam of 47 metres, making it one of the widest of its class and too big to cross the Panama Canal. Its amenities include an ice skating ring, full size basketball court, rock climbing wall, in-line skating, a 24 hours royal promenade, 9-hole miniature golf course, themed restaurants, bars and lounges, casino, an aquatic park, fourteen elevators to move among decks, six of them in glass. This is the first time the "Mariner of the Seas", which made its maiden voyage on November 2003, calls in Montevideo. On Sunday Cunard's regal "Queen Mary 2" will dock with 2.500 passengers travelling on a world cruise. She has a gross tonnage of 150.000 tons, 345 metres long, 41 metres beam and four "silent" electric engines. She's expected to occupy three docks plus four additional ones which will have to be free so the mighty "Queen Mary 2" can manoeuvre. Among her spectacular facilities are the main restaurant, Britannia, the beam of the vessel and three flights high; a royal court theatre with a capacity for 1.100; three open swimming polls, two interior ones plus 22 elevators to move around the different decks. In related news Montevideo harbour broke a record when the roll-on-roll-off "Morning Charlotte" recently docked with 2.057 vehicles from Asia: 499 for Uruguay; 801 for Paraguay and 757 fro Argentina.