Qatar hires 3rd cruise ship as ‘floating’ hotel for World Cup

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GENEVA, Oct 10, (AP): A third cruise ship was hired by World Cup organizers in Qatar on Monday to operate as a soccer fan hotel docked in Doha Port to add much-needed rooms for the tournament. Geneva-based MSC Cruises announced the agreement only six weeks before the World Cup is scheduled to start on Nov. 20.

The 1,075-cabin MSC Opera will be available from Nov. 19 to Dec. 19. Prices for the Opera were listed Monday on MSC’s website starting from 470 Swiss francs ($470) per person per night during the group stage, with a minimum two-night stay.

Qatar does not have the hotel capacity for all teams, workers, volunteers and fans at the World Cup and is creating camping and cabin sites, hiring cruise ships, and encouraging fans to stay in neighboring countries and fl y in for games. MSC previously signed a deal with the Qatari government in 2019 to provide two ships with about 4,000 cabins as fl oating hotels to help house the expected 1.2 million international visitors.

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