Authorities estimate that around 30 cruise ships will call at Kochi during the current financial year ending March 31, 2026. The cruise season runs until the end of May, and a total of nearly 40 vessels are expected to arrive during this period. Officials project that close to 50,000 passengers will reach Kochi aboard these luxury liners.
The current cruise season began on November 18 with the arrival of the MV World Odyssey, the first luxury vessel of the season. Often described as a floating university, the ship carried around 700 students from 270 universities across several countries, along with a crew of 200. Soon after, the Caribbean luxury cruise liner Celebrity Millennium docked in Kochi with about 2,000 tourists on board. These arrivals have boosted optimism in the city’s cruise tourism sector. In recent days, vessels such as Azamara Pursuit, Seven Seas Navigator, and Cordelia Cruises’ MV Empress have also brought tourists eager to explore destinations across Kerala.
In the previous financial year, Kochi received 32 cruise ships. During 2018–19, as many as 49 luxury liners brought nearly 63,000 tourists to the port. The following year saw a slight drop in ship arrivals to 44, but the number of tourists increased to around 68,000. Cruise tourism came to a complete halt after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with no cruise vessels calling at Kochi for the next two years.
Operations resumed in 2022–23 with 31 cruise ships, followed by 42 ships the next year. However, escalating conflict involving Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, a key route between Africa and the Middle East, made navigation difficult. As a result, several cruise operators avoided Kochi.
With attacks subsiding and shipping traffic in the Red Sea returning largely to normal, cruise companies believe conditions have stabilised. Against this backdrop, the cruise tourism industry is hopeful of a strong revival in Kochi during the current season.
