MS Hamburg Makes Inaugural Visit to Barbados

Barbados welcomed yet another cruise ship to the Bridgetown Port, as the busy cruise season, as predicted by tourism officials, continues to materialize.

During a brief welcome reception on the bridge of the MS Hamburg, Chairman of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., Alvin Jemmott, thanked Captain Joao Simoes and his crew for choosing Barbados as a port of call on its Caribbean itinerary.

Captain Simoes explained the ship Columbus has visited Barbados, but has since been rebranded as the MS Hamburg.

He told specially invited guests, including port and tourism officials, that the small ship, which is known for its friendly and cozy atmosphere, carries a maximum of 340 passengers, most of whom are German.

He further explained that this small ship has its own difficulties, but can also boast of being able to go to destinations where larger ships are unable to venture. He mused that the secret is also doing things differently.

The ship, which was recently awarded for its extensive itinerary, travels around the world and takes passengers to places such as the Great Lakes, the Amazon, and it will venture to the Far East. There are also plans to sail to Antarctica in 2016. The ship is expected to return to Barbados in January.

The 14 903-ton MS Hamburg was built in Germany in 1997 as the Columbus, a ship whose design originated from a desire by Hapag-Lloyd to re-introduce cruising into the Great Lakes of North America. After Hapag-Lloyd acquired a larger ship to replace the Columbus Bremen-based Plantours took her over, renaming her MS Hamburg at a ceremony in the old Hanseatic port of Hamburg in June 2012.

Source: The Barbados Advocate