UK Cruise Ship Docks in port Georgetown

Steel pan music with arts and craft vendors greeted passengers of the small MS Serenissima Cruise Ship at the Guyana National Shipping Corporation Wharf in Georgetown Friday morning.

Close to a month now, passengers and crew members have been cruising and touring the Caribbean.

The cruise ship is capable of both destination and expedition cruising and because of its small size, it can navigate into small remote ports.

The cruise started in Antigua on March 2; it will sail back to the United Kingdom after making the last stop in Suriname.

The Guyana Tourism Authority, Wilderness Explorer, Banks DIH who presented complimentary beverages to the tourists, Oasis Café, Arts and Craft Association, had small booths set up on the wharf to show the tourists a little of what the country has to offer.

Andre Decaires, General Manager of Wilderness Explorer, said the tourists will go to the Kaieteur Falls, Baganara Nature Resort and tours around Georgetown.

The majority of the passengers are British while the rest are Americans, Belgium and Dutch.

The Captain, Erik Juranovic said this is his first time visiting Guyana.

“The journey was nice; weather was good, interesting places. We started in Antigua coming down on the islands, now we are in Georgetown and after three days we will continue to Paramaribo, then we will finish this cruise,” the Captain said.

The ship has a total of 104 persons on board, including both passengers and crew members.

One of the passengers, a lecturer at Edinburg University in the United Kingdom, Winifried Keeves said, “It’s just a wonderful place to come to. I’ve not been here before, but I’ve been to South America many times and I am feeling impressed with your steel band, it’s so melodious.”

Another passenger, a retired marine biologist, Stephen Lockwood said, “the fact that this trip was coming to Guyana, that was part of the appeal.”

Meanwhile, Director General of the GTA, Brian Mullis said the first-ever task force to deal specifically with cruise ship visits was recently set up and had two meetings before the arrival of the ship on Friday.

“We recognise that for a cruise ship to come here you need a number of actors in place from the Captain who has to bring the ship into the port to everybody else along the way. GRA is important, the immigration is important to ensure that they are processed in a speedy amount of time; port health [is] important for clearing them [tourist]; then when they disembark we have to have the tour operators…on the ground agencies in place,” the GTA Director said.