T&T’s tourism sector is expected to receive a further boost in economic activity with the start of the cruise season.
The first cruise ship to dock at Scarborough Harbor on Sunday was the Silver Moon of Silversea Cruises, which arrived at 7.30am, carrying 528 passengers.
Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Tourism Secretary Tashia Burris, in a Facebook post on Sunday, said the cruise season officially began with the ship’s arrival at Scarborough Harbour.
“This will be the ship’s first call and is estimated to bring over 1,000 visitors to the island’s shores. Guests were welcomed by a variety of cultural performers, local artisans and other tourism industry players,” Burris wrote.
She said the season is scheduled to last until April 17, 2023, with a number of calls, including yesterday’s Rhapsody of The Seas docking.
“As a destination, we look forward to welcoming cruise visitors once again since the reopening of our borders following the pandemic,” added Burris.
Yesterday, Trinidad welcomed its first cruise ship, the Ms Insignia from Oceania Cruises, in Port of Spain. Trinidad Tourism (TTL) is hosting an official ceremony today to welcome the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise line.
Speaking about the resumption of the cruise season yesterday to Express, Charles Carvalho, manager of Carvalho’s Agency, the local agent for cruise ships, said he of all people is delighted because it has been exactly 32 months since T&T has been without a cruise ship. . .
“It’s fantastic to see cruise ships returning to our shores and it also shows that they haven’t forgotten about our country, after 32 months of absence. It is also an increase in financial income for various stakeholders, as well as the generation of much-needed economic activity in the tourism sector,” said a happy Carvalho.
While he said he was pleased that the Rhapsody of the Seas, which is owned by Royal Caribbean, is back after about 20 years, Carvalho said people should be aware that in about two to three years, the companies of sailing will be upgraded to larger ships, which unfortunately would not be able to dock in T&T.
“We are very fortunate that the berths can accommodate medium-sized ships. If we don’t step up like other Caribbean countries that have done infrastructure work to accommodate larger ships, we could lose Royal Caribbean in two years. T&T needs to make accommodations now in order to stay in business long-term because the Carnival cruise line is also building bigger ships.
Speaking to reporters last week, Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell said that while he did not have the exact number of tourists each cruise line would bring, he said MSC Cruises could bring about 3,500-4,000 and Rhapsody of the Seas , 2,500-3,000.
“We have a very good sailing season. The sailing season, of course, runs from November 1st to the end of March. So we’re looking forward to a very good sailing season,” Mitchell admitted.
He said the Ministry of Health will also be involved as it relates to “new ways in which cruise ships deal with illness on board”.
Both Trinidad and Tobago will see a total of 71 cruise calls, with 28 arriving at the Trinidad cruise ship complex in Port of Spain and 43 at Scarborough and Charlotteville ports in Tobago.
In these six months of the cruise season, an estimated 126,962 passengers and 47,570 crew members are expected to dock at the ports of the twin islands.
