Kingstown, St. Vincent’s main cruise port, hosted 82 ships in the 2018-2019 season for a total of 202,079 passengers.

About 10 miles south, the Grenadine island Bequia received 88 calls. These were usually by small ships, although the Marella Explorer did call.

The rest of the Grenadines were busy as well. Tiny 1.5 square mile Mayreau Island hosted 43 ships, the largest being the 450-passenger Seabourn Odyssey. 

Tobago Cays saw 31 calls, Union Island saw 26, and three ships came to Canouan.

Kingstown Cruise Terminal has two berths that can take small- and medium-sized vessels, while the Grenadines are all tender ports.

Ashore in Kingstown, the Ministry of Tourism offers walking tours, and the three-year old Port Information Ambassador program has 12 bilingual specialists positioned throughout the capital. Training in French, the program will add Spanish language soon, said Nichole Hazell Gun-Munro, marketing officer for cruise and yachting.

“The enhancements include beautification work, painting of buildings, planting of flowers, building walkways in certain areas, and installing new signage,” she said