Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee Mariano Browne, left, Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon, and Education Minister Esther Le Gendre are prevented from entering the vicinity where the cruise ships Caribbean Princess and Carnival Victory berthed. Eventually, they were allowed to proceed. Photo: ANDRE ALEXANDER

BELOW: A pleased Prime Minister Patrick Manning, left, walks through the Summit Village adjacent to the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. Next to him are his wife, Hazel, and son, Brian. Photo: ANTHONY WILSON

“Twas the season for bobolees, kite-flying and egg hunts. But amid the Easter season, a small crowd of locals and foreigners gathered at Waterfront Walkway, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. Originally, they were visiting the Summit Village. However, when the cruise ships, Caribbean Princess and Carnival Victory, appeared on the horizon, the focus shifted. Having sailed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, the vessels are in town for the Fifth Summit of the Americas.

Caribbean Princess docked first at 5:35 pm, and announced her presence. Riding the rippling waters in her wake was T&T Spirit. Puffing clouds of black smoke, another patrol vessel navigated the waters. The air was punctuated with applause. The din temporarily drowned calypsonian Relator’s singing. Later, Joyce Landry, CEO of Landry @ Kling, who has been working with the local Summit Secretariat, telephoned from the ship’s quay. She said: “It is an exciting time for Trinidad. There were happy faces on the pier. The Caribbean Princess crew were singing and waving on deck. It was celebratory.”

She said Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee Mariano Browne and Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee Scoon were welcomed on board by Italian captain Attilio Guerrini. Before the vessels’ arrival, Tourism Minister Joseph Ross was spotted mingling with visitors. Quizzed on the lasting benefits of the Summit, Ross said: “T&T would be more than ever at the forefront of the world. I believe everything is in place. I am happy for T&T.” In the background, adolescents were taking photographs; a mother pushed a baby in a pram, and couples enjoyed a drink in the open air ambience. Ross added: “There is a whole momentum. People are happy to come down and see what the Hyatt and the Village look like. It’s fantastic.”