Toward the beacon of Odesa’s Humorina. An unforgettable cruise aboard the m/v the OCEANIC
As part of the project “Incredible Port”
Four cities around the globe lay claim to the title of the world’s capital of humor: Gabrovo (Bulgaria), Wąchock (Poland), Aberdeen (Scotland), and, of course, our remarkable Ukrainian city of Odesa.
It is Odesa that has backed its ambitions with the most compelling argument: the famous Humorina, an annual international festival of laughter traditionally held on April 1 before the Russian invasion. At the invitation of the organizers, Odesa’s port workers took part in this celebration with great enthusiasm on numerous occasions.
The centerpiece of Humorina was a one-of-a-kind carnival parade of humor and satire. Tourists from all regions of Ukraine, as well as neighboring Moldova, flocked to witness this vibrant spectacle.
In 2012, the tradition of festive carnivals reached a new level.
On April 1, the silhouette of an ocean cruise liner appeared against the skyline of the sea terminal. The motor vessel The OCEANIC (238 meters in length, sailing under the Panamanian flag), chartered by the Japanese public organization Peace Boat (“Boat of Peace”), brought 978 passengers to Ukraine’s capital of humor.
Visitors from the Land of the Rising Sun were given a unique opportunity to take part in the April Fools’ parade.
Passengers of The OCEANIC carried through the streets of Odesa an omikoshi – a “divine palanquin” shaped like a wooden boat. On its panels, guests of Humorina wrote messages of goodwill to those who had suffered from the tsunami and the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011.
On Humorina’s main stage, the Japanese guests performed folk songs and the popular “Fishermen’s Dance of Hokkaido” – Soran Bushi. In the evening, they were warmly welcomed at the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
The following day, April 2, eighteen tourist groups from The OCEANIC set out along thematic routes of a specially designed program. Its diversity was remarkable: city tours with visits to museums and art galleries; the excursion “Temples and Monasteries of Odesa”; a journey along the “Belt of Glory,” the 1941 defense line of the city; a visit to the charitable foundation “Road to Home,” which supports the homeless; a cycling tour along the Odesa Health Trail; and a “Friendship Visit” to the village of Troyitske in the Biliaivka district, where visitors explored rural Ukrainian life and even took part in planting fruit trees and potatoes. A separate group traveled to Chernobyl to study the aftermath of the nuclear disaster (flying to Kyiv for the trip).
According to experts, this cruise combined cultural, religious, ecological, and educational experiences in a way rarely seen in the global cruise industry.
The project, prepared over three months of well-organized work, was implemented by the Ukrainian state company Black Sea Main Maritime Agency “Inflot” (CEO – Olga Bronetska).
After the cruise, the Odesa Seaport authority shared enthusiastic feedback from the organizers with international tour operators, encouraging them to plan Black Sea cruise routes so that cruise ships would arrive in Odesa on April 1 – the one day of the year when Ukraine’s Black Sea pearl turns into the world capital of humor. The idea was met with great enthusiasm. Previous applications for cruise calls to Odesa were already being formed for the 2014-2016 navigation seasons, as sea voyages are typically planned two years in advance.
However, the 2014 passenger navigation season began very differently – with the annexation of Crimea by russia and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine. The Black Sea became unsafe for cruise tourism, and white passenger liners stopped entering the Odesa port.
Yet maritime history reminds us: the sea always brings ships back to welcoming shores. We believe the time will come when Odesa once again greets spring with the ringing laughter of Humorina.
The orchestra will play again on Primorsky Boulevard, a colorful carnival will fill the central streets, and the familiar silhouettes of cruise liners will reappear by the sea terminal. And once more, as before, they will set their course toward the lights of our city – toward the warm beacon of Odesa’s humor.
