By the Caribbean Journal staff

Carnival Cruise Line has unveiled the name for its newest Vista-class cruise ship: Panorama.

The 133,500-ton ship is scheduled to make its debut in the fall of 2019, the third in the company’s Vista-class series.

Panorama will join its two sister ships: Carnival Vista, which launched in 2016, and Carnival Horizon, which is slated to come on line in April 2018.

All three are the largest ships ever built for the company.

“Carnival Panorama is the perfect name to reflect the design inspiration of our Vista-class ships providing more venues and opportunities to connect with the sea,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Carnival Panorama will offer a wide variety of fun indoor and outdoor experiences along with exciting one-of-a-kind features that will provide our guests with a lifetime of wonderful vacation memories,” she added.

Panorama is currently under construction at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard in Italy.

The post Carnival Reveals Name for New Vista-Class Ship appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

Grand Cayman’s Dart Real Estate has unveiled its new Residences at Seafire real estate development on Seven Mile Beach in the Cayman Islands.

The new development, adjacent to the Kimpton Seafire resort, has 62 private residences on a 12-acre full-service resort site.

Owners at The Residences at Seafire will have unlimited access to Grand Cayman’s newest luxury resort, along with a private rooftop terrace and a private owners’ pool.

The Residences were designed by international interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard.

“We are thrilled to reveal our first Seven Mile Beach residential development, proving innovative design and luxury beachfront living can seamlessly create a space in which you have the best of the both worlds – the serenity of your private home and resort services at your fingertips,” said Jackie Doak, president of Dart Real Estate.

The property ranges from one to five bedroom residences.

The post New Luxury Real Estate in Grand Cayman appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

New York City-based JetBlue has announced plans to launch a new daily nonstop route between Newark Liberty International Airport and Santo Domingo’s Las Americas International Airport in the Dominican Republic.

The route will provide new service to one of the Caribbean’s emerging cultural destinations.

The new service will begin May 3, 2018; seats are already on sale.

The route boosts JetBlue’s service to the Dominican Republic, where the carrier operates more daily flights than any other airline.

Santo Domingo’s charming Colonial Zone.

It’s a boost for the city, which is home to the oldest city in the New World and a growing collection of boutique hotels, art galleries and restaurants. (See more on Santo Domingo here)

JetBlue serves five airports in the Dominican Republic: La Romana, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Santiago and Santo Domingo.

JetBlue also operates more than 10 daily flights to the Dominican Republic out of New York.

The Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo becomes JetBlue’s fourth Newark-based route to the Caribbean, with flights to Santiago, San Juan and Barbados.

The flight will depart Newark daily at 6 AM, arriving in Santo Domingo around 9:54 AM.

The return flight will depart Santo Domingo at 10:54 AM, arriving in Newark at 2:59 PM.

JetBlue is operating the service on 150-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.

The post JetBlue Launching Newark-Santo Domingo Flights appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

It’s not unheard of to find an offer with unlimited golf at a Caribbean resort.

But unlimited golf at the greatest course in the Caribbean is something else entirely.

The Dominican Republic’s Casa de Campo Resort and Villas is offering just that for travelers, with a new package offering unlimited golf at the Pete Dye-designed Teeth of the Dog course, considered the number one golf course in all of the Caribbean.

The “Unlimited Teeth of the Dog With Breakfast” package starts at $247 per person per night through Dec. 21, 2018.

The package includes “all day” play at Teeth of the Dog, although guests can also play all day at the resort’s other Dye-designed courses, Dye Fore ad The Links.

There’s also an all-inclusive version of the package starting at $375 per person per night.

The offer includes accommodations in a Pete Dye Golf Lodge or Elite room, along with full daily breakfast buffet, use of a four-passenger golf cart and free Wi-Fi, among other amenities.

“Winter is the perfect time of year to escape to the warm weather of the Caribbean for an incredible getaway at our world-class resort,” said Andres Pichardo Rosenberg, President of Casa de Campo. “We take care of everything needed for a golf vacation to long savor with our exceptional accommodations and resort amenities plus 63 holes designed by the great Pete Dye including the shining jewel of our property, Teeth of the Dog.”

The post The Ultimate Caribbean Golf Package appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By Rico Louw
CJ Contributor

The Caribbean hotel industry showed performance growth just one month after a pair of massive hurricanes swept through the region.

Caribbean occupancy for the month was up 3.7% in year-over-year comparisons, and with a 6.9% increase in average daily rate (ADR), revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 10.8% to US$92.11.

Historically, September and October are the slowest demand months in the Caribbean, but the 57.2% absolute occupancy level was the highest for an October in the region since 2004.

While it is difficult to parse the exact impact, the jump in occupancy could be due in part to displaced residents, relief workers, media and other demand related to the post-hurricane situations.

When looking at individual islands, Puerto Rico, a main driver of the region’s overall performance, showed an absolute occupancy of 70.1% (+27.6% year over year).

That occupancy level exceeded historical trends in the country, but the year-over-year growth was skewed higher by a comparison with a Zika-affected month last year. ADR in the market rose 30.0% to US$185.27, while RevPAR increased 65.9% to US$129.83.

Aruba experienced an 18.5% increase in occupancy, while Bermuda, a much smaller hotel market, also helped the region’s overall performance with a 14.4% rise in occupancy.

Netherlands Antilles experienced the highest year-over-year increase in occupancy (+49.5%).

Of the 13 islands in which STR maintains a sufficient reporting sample, eight reported a year-over-year increase in RevPAR.

In year-to-date measurements, performance indicators are bouncing back in line with early-year STR projections. While Caribbean occupancy is down slightly (-0.7%), ADR (+2.2%) has pushed RevPAR up (+1.5%). The dip in occupancy is primarily due to supply growth (+2.9%), which to this point, has outpaced solid demand (room nights sold).

That supply growth will continue as there are a number of new rooms in the development pipeline, specifically in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba.

As of October, there were seven projects under construction in the Dominican Republic accounting for 2,188 new rooms. Another three projects in final planning would add 1,086 new rooms to the market. Jamaica reported just one in construction project in October, but another four projects and 3,190 rooms in final planning. Cuba showed a total a 2,628 rooms between five projects in the overall pipeline

Rico Louw is Client Account Manager at STR.

For questions regarding hotel data reporting in the Caribbean, please contact Louw at rlouw@str.com or +1(615) 824-8664 ext. 3455.

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