Page 6 - A SOUVENIRS STORY

As the King’s health deteriorated, on the other side of the world the residents of the Cayman Islands, driven by their own sense of dutifulness and resilience, were preparing to invite the world to visit their island paradise. In 1936 Commissioner Cardinall, on behalf of the people, had embarked on an ambitious project of bringing the first leisure travel vessel to the Cayman Islands. But a dismal event was about to occur.
In January 1936, the King’s physician issued this sombre bulletin: “The King’s life draws peacefully to a close”. On 20th January 1936 the British territories beyond the seas would join Great Britain, Ireland, India and the world in mourning the passing of King George V. The King had passed peacefully away at Sandringham House. It was the passing of an era and the Clock Tower would become its marker in the sands of time.
It was a year after the death of King George V that the Islanders efforts to host cruise visitors would bear fruit. On 22nd February1937 the 16,000 ton vessel, the RMS Atlantis (having sailed from Southampton, England on 17th February 1937), anchored at George Town roadstead bringing 400 visitors. History later recorded this day as the birth of the cruise ship tourism in the Cayman Islands.
Chronicles from regional news coverage recorded the event as an outstanding success. 340 passengers landed and discovered some of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and met some of its most hospitable and friendly people.
The winds of change were now blowing steady and life in the Islands would never be the same. Three small, turtle fishing islands were on their way to becoming a world-class tourist destination. It was an era that the Caymanians would look back on as a time when settlers built an island nation on a foundation of democracy and had invited the world to visit.
In 1937 Caymanians built a memorial to their beloved King