Silver Dawn cruise graces shores of Saint Lucia with 550 passengers

Castries, Saint Lucia: Saint Lucia marked the first visit of the newly built ship- Silver Dawn on January 26, 2023. It graced the shores of the islands with it a capacity of 550 passengers and 404 crew. 

Saint Lucia Tourism Authority took to Facebook and welcomed the cruise ship and cited, “Welcome to the country, Silver Dawn. Today, January 26, 2023, marks the first visit of this magnificent newly built ship to our island. With a capacity of 550 passengers and 404 crew, we are excited to have you here.” 

A special plaque exchange ceremony was held with the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Ministry of Tourism, Invest Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia Air and Seaport Authority (SLASPA), and port agent Cox & Company to officially welcome the ship to port Castries.

The Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority joined industry partners during a welcome ceremony for the Captain, crew, and passengers of Silversea Cruises, Silver Dawn, on its maiden visit to the island country. 

Minister of Tourism and Deputy Prime Minister- Ernest Hilaire also welcomed the cruise visitors and cited that the cruise visitors at Port Castries were welcomed with the sweet sound from the Leon Hess Comprehensive School Pan Side.

“It is encouraging to see our young creatives getting involved in our Creative Industries and tying it into the tourism sector. They were also greeted by local drums and solo groups on the Castries Market steps. They also enjoyed the real Saint Lucian experiences throughout the city centre and other communities across the island, “Ernest Hilaire added. 

Saint Lucia has marked a successful cruise season and welcomed various inaugural calls of the ships to the Ports of the country. 

Earlier, the United Kingdom’s ‘HMS Scott’ of the Royal Navy arrived in the country on January 18 2023. The Commanding Officer and crew were delighted to make this stop in Saint Lucia for the ship to carry out a watch handover, re-fuel and re-provision, and allow some R&R during what is set to be a record-breaking 15-month deployment in the Atlantic.

 The ship’s crew also participated in some community engagement activities before they departed on January 24. HMS Scott is a survey vessel and is on deployment to conduct deep ocean survey operations in the North Atlantic. This is the first visit of a Royal Navy ship to Saint Lucia since 2018. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary visited in 2019. The Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism Also welcomed the Captain and Crew to the country. 

The country also reflected on the successes of the previous week with the inaugural call of the large cruise ship in terms of passenger capacity, Arvia. Thousands of visitors disembarked and visited sites across the island as well as walked the streets of Castries.