By the Caribbean Journal staff

Fast-expanding MSC Cruises is adding Tampa as its newest homeport, the company said in a statement.

Beginning in Nov. 2020, MSC will be sailing from Tampa to the Caribbean, Mexico and The Bahamas year-round.

That will include a full winter season through April and a summer season from May through November 2021.

“As MSC Cruises expands its presence in the U.S., the introduction of Tampa as a homeport plays an important role in our long-term deployment strategy for this region,” said Ken Muskat, EVP and Chief Operating Officer of MSC Cruises USA. “We’ve seen increased demand for cruise options from Tampa as vacationers from around the world look to explore the city and surrounding areas pre- and post-cruise.”

MSC will be sailing its Tampa-Caribbean cruises on its MSC Armonia cruise ship.

“With a range of itineraries, including short cruise options, MSC Armonia’s itineraries from Tampa are ideal for groups, including family reunions, meetings, incentives and corporate events, as well as charters,” Muskat said. “In addition, the four- and five-night options are a great opportunity for someone who has never cruised before to try cruising as a vacation option or if they are new to MSC Cruises to check out one of our ships for the first time.”

The winter 2020-21 season will include stops in Caribbean ports like Cozumel and the Costa Maya, along with calls in The Bahamas, Key West and Mexico’s Progreso port.

“We are thrilled that MSC Cruises will be offering year-round cruises from Port Tampa Bay next year,” said Paul Anderson, President and CEO of Port Tampa Bay. “MSC Cruises offers an enriching and immersive cruise experience, bringing together people from around the world. Tampa is also known for the unique experiences the city offers its residents and visitors, appealing to a diverse mix of nationalities and cultures. We couldn’t be more excited for MSC Armonia’s new home to be Port Tampa Bay.” 

The post MSC Is Adding Caribbean Cruises From Tampa appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

Mexico-based Interjet Airlines is in the midst of a significant expansion push.

The airline said it woulld be expanding overall service through its Mexico City hub by 40 percent and officially establish Cancun International Airport as a major hub for the airline with over 378 weekly flights.

The airline is also adding new routes, increasing frequencies to existing markets and establishing peak day arrivals and departures for faster and more convenient connections, the company said in a statement.

“It was just one year ago we announced our new three-year strategic plan called Interjet 2021, Focus on the Future,” said Julio Gamero, Interjet’s Chief Commercial Officer. “A major pillar of that plan was committing ourselves to ‘Focus on the Customer’ and providing the products and services our customers deserved to make their leisure or business travel experience the best possible.”

“As an example, for our leisure travels to Mexico, we are scheduling arrivals and departures to coincide with check-in and check-out hours at major hotels and resorts,” Gamero said. “For our business travelers, we are now offering hourly departures on our most frequently traveled routes from 6 AM to 9 PM.”

“When you combine this with competitive prices, free checked bags on select fares, more legroom between seats and excellent on-board service, it’s easy to see why we’re the fastest-growing airline in Mexico,” he said.

— CJ

The post Interjet Has Big Plans in Cancun appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By Alexander Britell

Everybody knows Margaret.

Whether you’re at Saint Peter’s Bay to the south or the Fisherman’s Pub, her name immediately conjures a smiling thought of the best fish cakes in Barbados.

Most nights each week, Margaret (or her sister) sets up shop outside Jordans Supermarket in downtown Speightstown.

And whether you’re hungry or not, you can’t leave Jordans without at least one cake.

Jordans is itself a wonderful anomaly, a traditional supermarket somehow perched right at the edge of a gorgeous Barbados beach, one that turns even the most mundane of errands into a delight.

As the sun sets on the northwestern coast of Barbados, this little town is vibrant and humming, the sidewalks filled with strollers and the beaches with twilight waders.

Speightstown has long been something of a hidden-away corner of the island, a bit too far north to bask in the glow of the Platinum Coast and tucked just too far past the main coastal road to be easily noticed.

Clement Armstrong’s family has owned this spot for eight decades.

The more than 400-year-old seaport is in the parish of St Peter — and, as almost anyone in this town will affectionately tell you, is the “north,” more country than town.

In St Peter, you’re close enough to Barbados’ agricultural hub to get the best of everything, Margaret says.

“This is part of the country,” she says. “So we get the best of everything.”

On an island where the kindness is pervasive, here in the north there’s an added degree of ease and serenity, something you instantly feel on a walk down the main seaside street in Speightstown.

The main boulevard is a narrow street with three-story buildings straddling it on either side that instantly reminds of New Orleans or the most charming streets in French Caribbean towns like Grand Case and Gustavia.

Because being the oldest seaport in Barbados has its benefits.

Most supermarkets don’t come with sunsets like this.

You’ll immediately learn the history in the Fisherman’s Pub, a beach restaurant that’s been operating on this same sandy spot for 51 years, equal parts rum shop and beach restaurant, a place for flying fish and XO and “sunset lunches.”

“This is the next town that will take over,” says Clement Armstrong, whose family has owned the pub and its location here for more than 83 years.

Juma’s Restaurant.

At one end there’s the Orange Street Grocer, a gourmet eatery market that serves up pizzas, salads and a selection of fine wines.

At the other end is Juma’s, one of Barbados’ destination restaurants, an eclectically designed second-floor spot with marvelous food like duck curry, rum-infused pate, an inspired art collection and an enviable view of Speightstown’s stretch of sea.

Further down the road you’ll see the Arlington House Museum, a wonderfully preserved early 18th-century house with a range of exhibits on the town’s history, particularly the days when it had such a close trading relationship with Great Britain’s Bristol that it soon earned the moniker “Little Bristol,” a name that now adorns one of the town’s most popular beach bars.

The overwater pool at Port Ferdinand.

And it’s bookended by a pair of sister luxury resorts: the spectacular Port Ferdinand luxury hotel, home to a superyacht marina and one of just two Nikki Beach outposts in the Caribbean, and the beachfront Saint Peter’s Bay, a classically elegant Barbados beach resort.

It’s that peculiar cocktail of history, architecture and community (and a pair of luxury destinations) that have all added up to turn this little town into what Armstrong calls a “hidden treasure.”

It’s also put Speightstown, as Armstrong says, at a crossroads, as the kind of destination that could become one of the next hot Caribbean beach towns.

But after an early evening cricket match, or a “bread and two” (a pair of fish cakes on bun) on the beach in front of Jordan’s, Speightstown is, well, just fine the way it is.

Try and leave Jordans without buying a fish cake. Just try.

Margaret agrees, frying up a fresh pan of golden brown goodness.

“We in the north are good.”

— CJ

The post Speightstown, a Must-Visit Caribbean Beach Town in Barbados appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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