 Seaborn Ovation marked the fifth inaugural cruise call of the 2022-2023 cruise tourism season on Sunday, December 11th, following birthing at Rodney Bay bringing 485 passengers to the destination. Tourism officials were tendered to the vessel where a plaque exchange ceremony was held. The captain, says of his many St. Lucia experiences, this recent call greeted by warm weather and the backdrops of Pigeon Island was by far the best. With the ship we go all over the world, Asia, been to India, we go to the Norwegian Fjords all over the Mediterranean and we're doing our season here in the Caribbean and really I don't think you can do any better than this. Here we are today, beautiful island, beautiful weather, beautiful people, I think this is really the very best that we could do. The agents for Seaborn Cruise Line were delighted to welcome another vessel under the Cox & Company brand. Managing Director Matthew Bover presented the captain with an authentic St. Lucia plaque designed with the iconic twin petons. The industry is very important to St. Lucia and we continue to grow so we look forward to many more returns for you and please next time you're here you all are invited to go and experience St. Lucia to get out there and really enjoy the island so welcome and I hope to see you on your next cruise. Tourism Minister Dr. Una Seler highlighted that the vessel's call adds to the increased focus of cruise services to the north of the island. The cruise industry is quite important to us in St. Lucia in terms of its economic contribution to our development and to the creation of employment and generating a lot of economic activity so you know this is important to us but beyond that we love to host people, we love to welcome people to St. Lucia and to treat them and if you're not going to go on shore today certainly next time you're coming I would love to see your crew as many of them as possible get a chance to explore the island to see our other beaches our forests our hills rivers waterfalls there's so much to see in St. Lucia. Tourism officials experienced the tour of Seaborn ovation which represents another stage in the evolution of a small ship cruising the ship delivers a wealth of new concepts and a fresh vision delighting the world's most discerning travelers. The 2022-2023 cruise tourism season anticipates 71 calls throughout the month of December including nine calls over the three day Christmas holiday period. 2023 is scheduled to kickstart with 223 cruise calls in the first quarter of the year and anticipates welcoming one of the largest cruise ships with a capacity of over 6,000 to broadcastries on January 18th.