KINGSTON on Tuesday welcomed its first cruise ship in three years.

The Pullmantur-owned vessel, Monarch, was the largest-ever ship to dock in Kingston. The 268m-long vessel sailed into the Kingston port at 6:00 am with a capacity load of 2,744 passengers during the ship’s Caribbean Legendary Tour, which seeks to retrace the journey made by European voyager Christopher Columbus in the 15th century when he came to the so-called New World.

The ship, which sailed in from Cartagena, Columbia, was destined for Montego Bay, but had to stop in Kingston as the ports in Ocho Rios, Falmouth and Montego Bay were full.

Captain Nicholas Pagonis, associate vice-president of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Limited, parent company for Pullmantur, told the

Jamaica Observer that the ship’s journey to Jamaica was really a test trip and that the company would love to include Jamaica in its programme as a regular destination.

“We are testing as we speak. This is a pilot as we do bring in ships occasionally to different destinations, and this is the first after many years. We would like to come here and the guests love the culture and the ports of Jamaica and we would like to make this a routine stop,” he said.

Three important factors in that decision, he stressed, are safety, security and seamlessness, which he called the three S’s.

“The three S’s are important to make us feel comfortable and we want to come to Jamaica. We want to explore other destinations in Jamaica, not only Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. We want to experience the culture and the people, some of the things that attract cruise ships in general,” Pagonis said.

He added that the ship’s return will also be dependent on demand from passengers as well as upgrade to the ports, which he is confident will be done to enhance the experience of the passengers.

In the meantime, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who made a brief stop on the ship, said he was pleased that Jamaica was being considered as a part of the ship’s programme over the next three years.

“That is exciting for us because we have always felt that destination Kingston has a particular allurement, particular charm, and a value of its own that is impatient for recognition, and we need to spend some time ourselves in building out that understanding within the itinerary of cruise within the Caribbean.

“We know that the Caribbean is the most important warm-weather destination in world cruise and we know that this is the richest and most lucrative area for cruises in the world, and Jamaica has not had its fair share of it and we are determined in this round to get our share of it,” the minister said.

Bartlett said the country is determined to improve its cruise industry and drive a new level of earnings from the area, which includes providing an opportunity for the movement of people and expenditure off the ship.

“Three keys factors guide the way we move to drive cruise — safety, security and seamlesness — and we are determined in this round to do it in order to expand and grow the cruise industry,” he added.

The Monarch’s passengers took excursions to Dunn’s River Falls, Devon House, Bob Marley Museum, Kingston Craft Market, Fort Clarence, Tuff Gong Studios, and the National Gallery. Among them was Sebastian Landinez, 20, an engineer from Columbia who was on the cruise with his 19-year-girlfriend Danora Jacome.

“It was really good,” he said of the Jamaican experience. “The people were lovely and friendly and warm, even the police. Everyone greeted us with warmth. It was perfecto!”