The MSC Orchestra is so big it has its own running track onboard as well five swimming pools, numerous restaurants, Turkish baths and a library, card room, casino and theatre to keep its 3,000 guests occupied.
The ship, which sails under a
Panamanian flag, spent some time off
the south coast of Jersey, and about
2,500 passengers were brought onto
the Island to take part in various excursions.
A spokesman for Ports of Jersey said
it was the ‘largest single number of passengers from a cruise ship, certainly in
memory if not ever, that we have ever facilitated’.
He added: ‘It all went swimmingly and everyone was very happy so we are very pleased.’
Crowds gathered at the Lido at Havre des Pas to catch a glimpse of the $480million cruise ship, which is almost 300 metres long and carried close to 1,000 crew members. It was on a cruise from Hamburg around the British Isles and left Jersey waters at about 4pm on Sunday for Cork, Ireland.
Maria Le Tiec, passenger services manager for Cruise Jersey, an arm of Ports of Jersey, said 700 of the passengers were booked on tours.
‘Others jumped on buses or visited parts of the Island in taxis. We had all ages from families with small children to the oldest cruise passenger I have come across, a 101-year-old who just wanted to see a Jersey cow,’ she said.
Nationalities included French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
While many shops and businesses in St Helier were closed on Sunday, Ms Le Tiec said Le Petit Train and areas in St Aubin and Gorey were ‘very busy’.
