The MV SAGA Pearl, one of the world’s largest cruise ships and the first to docked in Guyana for the year 2011,
Captain David Owen entertains Tourism Minister Manniram Prashad, Wilderness Explorers CEO Teri O’Brien, the head of Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana, Paul Stephenson (left) and Andrew Astwood, managing director of GNSC
arrived in the wee hours of Sunday morning and docked at the Guyana National Shipping Corporation Limited’s wharf at La Penitence, Georgetown.
Most of its 350 occupants left on shuttles, either to see Guyana’s majestic Kaieteur Falls or to just drive around the city, see historic sites and enjoy Guyanese patronage. The ship has approximately 268 crew members.
Louis Fischer Dowding, who was born in Guyana but migrated when she turned 13, told Guyana Times International she was happy to revisit Guyana.
“I am home, it’s fantastic!” she exclaimed while bouncing to steel pan music. As part of its activities, the Guyana
Tourism Association (GTA) set up a welcoming booth, complete with music and Guyanese beverages.
Louis said this is the third time she has returned to Guyana since migrating, and she plans to visit her home and church in Kitty.
She will also be visiting her grandparent’s gravesite.
She said that having lived overseas for many years, she is happy to see the strides the country has made in infrastructure and development, and despite being away from the land of her birth, she still considers Guyana her home.
Meanwhile, Captain of the SAGA Pearl II, David Warden Owen, at a brief meeting with local tourism officials and members of the media, related that this is the second time he has visited Guyana, the first time being in 1997 while he was captain of ‘The Spirit’, the first cruise ship of the SAGA shipping line to have docked at Port Georgetown.
Despite the rain experienced on Sunday, Owen said, he is sure the passengers will enjoy the weather and the eco-tourism sites. The cruise began on January 4 in Southampton, and sailed to Madeira before sailing on a course to the warm Caribbean.
Owen said the grand voyage will take them around the Caribbean and the Amazon. They have already visited Antigua, Grenada and St Lucia. The ship spent 12 days on the Amazon River, and stopped at Suriname for a day before heading to Guyana.
Passengers disembarking the MV SAGA Pearl on Sunday at the Guyana National Shipping Corporation's wharf
The next stop is scheduled for February 9 in Barbados, and from there the ship will head to Cuba, circumnavigate to St Maarten, and then head back to Southampton, where it will be dry docked as preparations are made for the Autumn cruise to the northern ports. Tourism Minister Manniram Prasad told Captain Owen he was happy to have the cruise line visiting Guyana once again. He added that there are small steps being made in the tourism sector, and this is one of them. Owen told the minister that there will be more ships from the cruise line coming to Guyana, as they are always looking for new itineraries to entertain their guests. Pieces of craft of Guyana’s macaw and the golden frog were presented to Captain Owen by Prashad, who in turn received a plaque of the ship’s logo, as did the head of the tourism association and the head of Wilderness Explorers — a local tour guide.f
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