With the arrival of the MSC Lirica to San Souci, in Santo Domingo, MSC started its operations in the Dominican Republic capital on Wednesday Dec. 19.

Starting in the current 2012 – 2013 season, the MSC Lirica now departs from Sansouci to La Romana, St. Marteen, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Barbuda and the British Virgin Islands.

The executive director of Sans Soucí Port, Jaime Castillo emphasized that, as result of this homeport operation the city of Santo Domingo now resounds as a cruise destination.

Castillo stated that MSC Lirica is the first cruise ship in the history of the Port of Santo Domingo sourcing local agricultural products supplies and creating a positive impact on the local economy.
“We also have a diverse offering of unique and exclusive tours to be enjoyed by all cruise passengers”, said the port executive.

The ship is mostly carrying European passengers, along with guests from Guadeloupe, Martinique and the Dominican Republic.

The exchange of plaques between the ship, the port and the maritime agency was directed by the Ship’s Captain, Master Raffael eLaccarino jointly with Karsten Winderler, president of Maritima Dominicana and Jaime Castillo Executive Director of Sans Souci Ports.

Local Dominican authorities participated in this traditional maritime protocol. Juan de Los Santos, Mayor of Santo Domingo Este; Ramón Rivas from Dominican Port Authority; Orfila Salazar, Cruise Director of Ministry of Tourism; Francisco Carreras, Tourism Counselor for Dominican Presidency, and the local press, among others, attended the plaque key activity and also enjoyed a site inspection of the ship.

During the Plaque and Key activity the of Port of Santo Domingo thanked government authorities and the private sector for all the efforts and synergies taking place to strengthen Santo Domingo as a cruise destination.