First ship of the year visits

THE first cruise ship of the year arrived yesterday bringing more than 1600 patrons to town.

Celebrity Century, which holds 1859 passengers and 850 crew, pulled up in the early hours of Wednesday morning with guests dispatching around mid-morning.

Cruise ship ambassador co-ordinator Brian Richardson said the volunteers were keen to be back, but with the last ship of the year arriving on Christmas Eve, they didn’t get much of a break.

“Its been a bit busy but everything has gone swimmingly so far. The general perception and feedback that we get is that they [passengers] love the place, they want to come back for a holiday and they enjoy the hot, humid wet season weather,” he said.

Mr Richardson estimated that1602 patrons were greeted by the cruise ship ambassadors with another 244 passengers headed straight to the reef or Daydream Island.

Of the 1602 patrons, 198 went straight to land-based activities such as Camira and jet-ski tours.

Fifteen cruise ship volunteers worked throughout Wednesday morning and afternoon before passengers left town at 2pm.

Celebrity Century, which left from Sydney, will now head to Cairns, Darwin and Singapore.

Sixteen cruise ships are expected to arrive in the Whitsundays between now and the end of June.

Mr Richardson said Cruise Ship Ambassadors are always looking for new volunteers.

Anyone interested should contact Brian Richardson on 0400 985 760.