![\"Emerald](\"https:\/\/ik.imgkit.net\/3vlqs5axxjf\/TW\/ik-seo\/uploadedImages\/Art\/2023\/1204\/T1204EMERALDSAKARA2_C\/Emerald-Sakara-godmother-Kelly-Craighead..jpg\" "\\"Emerald")
<\/p>\nSAN JUAN — One of the smallest ships in cruising, the 100-passenger Emerald Sakara was christened here on Saturday by godmother Kelly Craighead, CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association.<\/p>\n
“Emerald Sakara is really important to the cruise industry,” Craighead said. “Yachts like these are just a prime example of the breadth and depth of the cruise industry. It’s wonderful to say very confidently that there is a ship for everyone.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Glen Moroney, founder and owner of Scenic Group, the parent of Emerald Cruises, said he probably wouldn’t build bigger ships, even if he could afford it.<\/p>\n
“The experience does not get better as the ships get bigger,” said Moroney, who said he had a relative who cruised on a mass-market ship and had “the time of her life.”<\/p>\n
“There’s nothing wrong with those ships, it’s just that some people prefer a different type of cruise,” Moroney said.<\/p>\n
Emerald Sakara is the second oceangoing ship for Emerald Cruises, which was founded as a river cruise line. The Sakara’s sister, the Emerald Azzurra, entered service last year.<\/p>\n
After the naming ceremony, the ship set sail on a weeklong West Indies Island Hopping itinerary to Culebra, Vieques, the British Virgin Islands and St. Barts.<\/p>\n