By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

St. Kitts and Nevis is seeing continued growth in its increasingly important cruise sector.

The destination reports it is attracting more than one million passengers per season.

“We are having bigger ships,” said Minister of Tourism, Lindsay Grant, speaking at the recent Prime Minister’s press conference. “And so, on December 11, we are going to welcome Symphony of the Seas [for its inaugural visit], which is the world’s largest cruise ship that will bring a passenger count somewhere in the region of 7,600; 10,000 tops, including the crew,”

Symphony of the Seas is part of the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship fleet. 

During the 2018- 2019 Cruise Season, two other Oasis Class ships, — Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas — will dock in St. Kitts.  

Oasis ships belong to the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship fleet, and are among the world’s largest cruise ships.

Eight ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet are scheduled to visit St. Kitts and Nevis a total of 85 times this cruise season– the most of any cruise line.

“The future looks very bright for us,” said Grant. “We are building the second cruise pier, which is really going to enhance our competitiveness and so we expect nothing less.”

The formal agreement to initiate the $48 million project for the construction of a second cruise pier at Port Zante, St. Kitts, was signed in 2015.

The arrival of larger cruise ships is translating into increased tourism revenues in the federation.

According to the 2018 BREA Report, total passenger spending in 2018 increased 77 percent when compared to 2015.

The post St Kitts Seeing Continued Cruise Growth appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

St Maarten-based regional carrier Winair is adding more new flights for the upcoming holiday season.

The carrier is adding 24 additional seats for its St Maarten-Curacao flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Aruba flights will also be upgraded to the airline’s new Super ATR-72 with 72 seats, as will the carrier’s Bonaire flights.

Winair is also increasing its flights from St Maarten to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to daily with the Super ATR-72, while Dominica flights will increase from four to five weekly flights.

The increases will be in effect from Dec. 1 through Jan. 15, 2018, according to the company.

“Customer feedback and the seasonal travel demands indicated that seat inventory remained insufficient,” said said Michael Cleaver, president and CEO of Winair. “By utilizing the larger and new Super ATR-72 aircraft WINAIR fulfilled these demands and is able to increase its capacity by 50 percent 4 days a week. With these enhancements we will be able to accommodate our customers needs.”

— CJ

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… mediation, a first for Puerto Rico. All decisions reached during … the Insurance Commissioner of Puerto Rico, said in a phone … 20, 2017, destroying Puerto Rico’s power grid and forcing … Pernas, executive director of Puerto Rico’s Association of Insurance …

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By Ray Chickrie Caribbean News Now contributor PARAMARIBO, Suriname — The government of Suriname led by President Desi Bouterse is seeking permission from Parliament to borrow US$205 million from the Exim Bank of China to expand and modernize the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (JAP) because the constitution of Suriname sets a limit on how […]

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By Caribbean News Now contributor ST JOHN’S, Antigua –Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has advised the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) that his government will not be issuing a vesting order to facilitate the Bank of Nova Scotia’s divestment of its Antigua holdings about which there was no consultation. The prime minister on […]

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