Norwegian Cruise Lines’ – Norwegian Jewel
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
November 03, 2009 (CUOPM)
The parade of cruise ships to St. Kitts’ Port Zante for November begins Wednesday with the visit of the 92,000-ton Norwegian Jewel of the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL).
It will be first time that the Bahamas-registered cruise vessel, which has a passenger capacity of 2,376 passengers and a crew of 1,100 will visit St. Kitts – Nevis.
Well-informed sources said the Norwegian Jewel will arrive from Tortola at 7 o clock with 2,410 passengers on board and will depart at 4 “˜o’ clock, spending Thursday at sea and docking in Curacao on Friday.
According to information from the Marine Division of the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority SCASPA), a total of 24 ships with an estimated capacity of 52,000 passengers are scheduled to berth on 25 cruise ship days in November.
Among the ships are the 108,000-ton Ruby Princess with a passenger capacity of 3,100; the 3,100-passenger Ventura; the 2,680-passenger Carnival Miracle; the 3,473-passenger Carnival Victory; the 2,681-passenger Mercury; the 2,500-passenger Serenade of the Seas and the 2,450-passenger Millennium.
Also scheduled to visit Port Zante are the 2,388-passenger Arcadia; the 2,388-passenger Ocean Village 2; the 1,692-passenger Ocean Village; the 1,950-passenger Norwegian Dawn and the 2,600-passenger Queen.
Smaller cruise vessels such as the 255-passenger Royal Clipper; the 400-passenger Silver Shadow; the 820-passenger Braemar and the 308-passenger Windsurf have calls scheduled in November.
An analysis on the impacts of passenger, crew and cruise line spending carried out by the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, on the 26 cruise destinations during the period May 2008 through April 2009 showed that cruise tourism pumped US$44 million or EC$118 million into the St. Kitts and Nevis economy during the 2008/2009 cruise year.
The survey indicated that cruise passengers who came ashore spent a total of US$33 million or EC$89.1 million. The crew members who disembarked spent a total US$7.8 million or EC$21.6 million while the cruise lines spent US$3 million or EC$8.1 million in St. Kitts and Nevis during the survey period.
St. Kitts and Nevis led 24 of the 29 destinations in terms of average expenditure per cruise passenger of US$99.41 or EC$268.40.
FCCA figures also show based on the survey, that in St. Kitts and Nevis, expenditure in 2009 by each passenger increased to US$33.20 (EC$89.64) compared to US$5.40 (EC$14.50) in 2006, an increase of 514 percent and crew expenditure in St. Kitts and Nevis increased to US$7.80 (EC$21.06) in 2009 compared to US$0.40 (EC$1.08) in 2006, a whopping increase of 1,850 percent.
Crew visiting St. Kitts and Nevis spent an average of US$142.14 or EC$383.77, the third highest crew expenditure rate among the 29 destinations and the seventh highest among the 29 destinations in total crew expenditures of US$7.8 million or EC$21 million.