WESTERN BUREAU:

Despite the passage of Hurricane Dean and the imposition of a state of emergency, visitors are still determined to travel to Jamaica for their vacation.

Complementing the 14,000 guests who braved the dangerous storm and remained on the island, the consensus of cruise and airline executives, as well as United Kingdom and United States tour operators, is that there has been no widespread panic among visitors.

In fact, the island's cruise ship capital, Ocho Rios, will welcome the world's largest passenger carrier, Royal Caribbean International's M/S Freedom of the Seas today, bringing 4,500 visitors. It will signal Jamaica's official return to a market which it dominated last year by attracting well over a million takers, said a release from the Ministry of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture.

The ship is one of many that will return to the country's port by next week.

Carnival's spokesman, Vance Gulliksen, who was asked whether their ships were rerouted as a result of the state of emergency, told The Gleaner that with the projected path of the storm last week, in the interest of guests and crew safety, the decision was taken to divert the itineraries of several ships that call here.

Word from Princess Cruise Lines' Steve Neilsen is that their ships will return to the western Caribbean, which includes: Jamaica, Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico, within two weeks.