Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie (centre) and wife Marcia chat with West Indies opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the mayor's reception to celebrate Cricket World Cup, on-board the Caribbean Queen on Tuesday. - Photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Daviot Kelly, Staff Reporter

Sure, he might have had his reservations about the ICC Cricket World Cup, but that doesn't mean Kingston's mayor isn't going to be a part of it.

His Worship hosted members of the Zimbabwean, Irish and, of course, West Indies cricket teams, which are all in Jamaica for the preliminary group stage. The Pakistanis (the other team in Group D) didn't take up the invitation, but it wasn't because they got walloped by the Windies. The Asian lads merely decided to sit this one out. The Caribbean Queen was a packed vessel prompting Deputy Mayor Lee Clarke to ask his boss if everyone could hold..

"No, you going to have to use the life raft," responded Mayor McKenzie. That was the type of atmosphere all evening as everyone got to see parts of Kingston, St. Andrew and Portmore at night. The bright lights and churning water made for a peaceful evening on the harbour. Local fans, some of whom were in the crowd at Sabina Park as thelocal boys beat Pakistan earlier that day, mingled with the foreign players and even coaches, getting a few autographs from the teams.

The atmosphere was completed by the smorgasbord provided by the Jamaica Pegasus hotel and the music provided by the mayor's own son, Marcus, through his Exuma Movements production. The DJ gave the passengers a steady dose of old hits and even evoked some dancing later on as a conga line/soca train broke out on the deck. Those who didn't feel like getting down hung out by the bar or went to the upper deck to either lounge or get a whiff of the sea air from higher up.

Guests included: Indian High Commissioner Kailash Agrawal, French Ambassador Francis Hurtut, Cuban Ambassador Gisela Garcia and husband Jorge Crespo, Derrick Smith, Anthony Johnson, James Robertson, Dorothy Lightbourne, Francis Kennedy, Morin Seymour, Camille Prince, Raymond Lawson, Conroy Benlass, Richard Robinson and Christopher Brandon.

Manager of the Irish cricket team, Roy Torrens (right), has the attention of (from left) Mary Reid, Mayor of Kingston-Upon-Thames in the United Kingdom; John Wright, secretary of the team, and Ian Reid.

Opposition Leader Bruce Golding seems in a contemplative mood with Charmaine Anderson (left) and Sonia Fuller.