The MS Prinsendam cruise ship belonging to Holland America Line, represented by their agents in Malta OF Gollcher & Sons Ltd., stopped off at Gozo for the day last week after leaving Grand Harbour. The 204 meter cruise ship was carrying 751 passengers plus 450 members of the crew. M.S. Prinsendam dropped anchor just outside the port of Mgarr at 9.30am and left for Trapani at around 6.00pm.
A welcome was given to the visitors at Mgarr harbour, with the Astra Folk Group from Victoria, performing traditional dances, as well as local food and arts and crafts being on display. Representatives of the MTA and the GTA distributed brochures and information about Gozo.
Several passengers took a number of various excursions around the island of Gozo which were organised by Mifsud Brothers. These included jeep safaris, visits to historic sites and museums, agri-tourism experiences, where the tourists could also taste the food, wine and drinks made from lemons and oranges. Others preferred to go ashore and explore the island independently.
The Ministry for Gozo has received positive comments on the part of the organisers, who stated that they had received a good response from the tourists who had toured around the island of Gozo. About 650 passengers, (87%) from the MS Prinsendam, went ashore during the day.
This brings the number of passengers that visited Gozo off cruiseliners during the past 2 weeks to 1600, including the MS Rotterdam. that had stopped the week before, which was carrying 1256 passengers with 589 members of crew. This was the largest cruise ship to ever have stopped near the island of Gozo.