Nassau, Bahamas -- One of the largest ships in the Carnival Cruise Lines, the Carnival Dream, made its inaugural trip to the shores of The Bahamas on Thursday.

A ceremony complete with performances by The Royal Bahamas Police Band and Junkanoo group Colours was held at the Prince George Wharf to commemorate the event.

Several cabinet ministers were present for the ceremony including Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs & Attorney General the Hon Brent Symonette, Minister of Tourism and Aviation the Hon Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace and Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture the Hon Desmond Bannister.

Mr Symonette and Captain of the ship Carlo Queirolo exchanged plaques.

?The Bahamas is pleased to welcome the newest, largest and sleekest ?Fun Ship? in the Carnival Fleet,? Mr Symonette said.
?Carnival Cruise Lines is the number one supplier of cruise passengers to The Bahamas, delivering close to one million passengers to the destination in 2008.?

Hailing this as a ?positive? for The Bahamas, Minister of Tourism & Aviation, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace, said despite the modern amenities that may exist on a ship of this magnitude, The Bahamas would still be able to benefit.

?The kind of revenue that the ship is expected to ?pump? into the Bahamian economy is as a general rule of thumb is that what we use is a round number of $100 per passenger,? said the Minister.
He added that one of the things that is currently done at the Ministry of Tourism is to measure only those persons who come off the ship for expenditure purposes in order to get a ?true? picture of the kind of revenue expected by passengers.

?That?s why when we talk about the redevelopment of downtown Nassau, what is most important is that we have sufficient attractions in downtown Nassau so that the maximum of people leave the ships,? Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said.

The Bahamas will have to be much more attractive in order to compete with the activities onboard mega ships such as Carnival Dream, he noted.

?These modern ships have a whole lot more going on board than ships of the past, however, I do not believe that people come all the way here just to stay on the ships. We have to find creative ways to get them to visit our downtown area, thus the revitalization of downtown.?

Quoting Carnival Chairman, Micky Arison, Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said one of the myths that exist is that cruise ships make more money when passengers remain onboard during a port call.
?Micky Arison, told me a long time ago that they (cruise ships) make substantially more money if every single person left the ship.

?That means that the meals and other services that they would have to supply would be significantly decreased and in addition, they make money on every tour booked, therefore, it is in their advantage because they earn more from people leaving the ship than mythology that continues to pervade that if people stay onboard, that is more beneficial to cruise lines. It is exactly the opposite.?

The Bahamian Government also received accolades for the newer port.

Captain Carlos Queirolo said, ?I wish to thank the government for widening the port, thus allowing larger ships to manoeuvre more easily. It makes our job so much easier.?

Guests were invited to tour the facilities onboard the ship including the casino, pool decks, art gallery and other public areas.

Carnival Dream is one of the larges of the Carnival Cruise Line ships to enter the fleet. The ship entered service in September 2009. At 130,000 tons, she is the biggest the line has ever built. It has the capacity to accommodate 6000 persons ? 4600 passengers and 1400 crewmembers.

It is projected that the Carnival Dream will bring close to a quarter of a million passengers to The Bahamas, in 2010.

The country is also anticipating the arrival of the Oasis of the Seas, the largest ship in the world when she makes her inaugural trip to The Bahamas in December.