Tui-owned Marella Discovery and Marella Celebration called at the territory’s Tortola Pier Park, where they were formally welcomed by a government delegation including the BVI’s premier Orlando Smith.

Director of tourism, Sharon Flax-Brutus said: ‘‘It is exciting to welcome the cruise business back to the territory and even more encouraging was the positive feedback which we have received from visitors.

“They stated their admiration for the resilience of our residents and our commitment to rebuilding our tourism industry and territory. The guests were only directed to the locations and establishments that were open and had the facilities to safely host them.

“We know that there is still a lot of work to be done but this is ongoing,” she added, “and we expect more places to be ready to welcome guests on the next cruise ship calls to the territory.”

Meanwhile Virgin Holidays has launched a new Caribbean recovery effort in partnership with UB40, with the band re-releasing its track “Come Back Darling” as a music video to encourage tourists to return to the region following September’s devastating hurricanes.

Virgin Holidays managing director, Joe Thompson, said: “Virgin Holidays works incredibly closely with tourism authorities across the region and want to put the Caribbean back on people’s radar for their 2018 holiday."

Ali Campbell, UB40 frontman, added: “Our music is inspired by the beautiful Caribbean islands and, of course, it has always been close to our hearts. Putting a whole new meaning to the lyrics of ‘Come Back Darling’ has been a brilliant experience – and we hope it lands the message amongst the Great British public that Caribbean locals really do want them to ‘come back’. ”