United States Virgin Islands Senator Alicia Hansen and Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy are sounding off surrounding comments made about St. Croix.

Senator Hansen, speaking during a Senate Committee on Economic Development and Agriculture in late March , said Duffy told her in Ft. Lauderdale in March that she “had never traveled to St. Croix and did not know the island,” according to The Virgin Islands Consortium.

The Senator added: “I had to ask her again, ‘Maybe you have not come to St. Croix, but you know about St. Croix?’ She said no,” Hansen said. “That’s the president; I have a serious problem with that.”

Carnival, meanwhile, said the comments were a “gross mis-characterization of the conversation.”

In a statement released to the paper, the cruise line noted: “What Ms. Duffy indicates she said is that while we do not have many cruise ship calls in St. Croix and she has not personally traveled there, she understands it is a beautiful island. She and another Carnival employee who were present during the conversation confirm that this is, in fact, what she stated.”

The Senator, however, is sticking to her original comments and said her position remains.

In addition, Hansen also noted the territory presence at the recent industry event “was so far away from everything,” despite costing over $100,000.

The hearing was part of a broader update on tourism, touching on many recent initiatives to get cruise business back up in the USVI.