Cruise Ships At Port Zante – St. Kitts
Photo By Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
August 11, 2009 (CUOPM)
St. Kitts – Nevis registered a 10 percent increase in cruise ship passengers for the first half of this year.
Data from the Department of Finance and Statistics of the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) also indicate a near 30 percent increase in cruise passengers in June this year compared to the same month in 2008.
SCASPA figures state that cruise passenger arrivals jumped 11 percent to 244,746 for the first half of 2009 compared to 229,781 for the same period in 2008 and 129,051 for the same period in 2007.
Carnival Cruise Line accounted for 82,655 passengers between January and June with the Carnival Victory bringing 71,449 and the Carnival Miracle, 11,206 passengers from 19 and 10 calls respectively.
P & O and Princess Cruises brought 65,283 passengers to St. Kitts on 8 ships. Emerald Princess brought 19,151 from six visits; Grand Princess, 15,570 from six calls; Ocean Village, 13,415 passengers from 8 visits; Sea Princess, 8,138 passengers from four calls and Ventura, 3,036 passengers from one call.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise line brought 50,972 passengers during the first six months of this year with 17,260 passengers on the Celebrity Solstice from six visits; 11,089 passengers on Vision of the Seas from six calls; 10,099 visitors on the Constellation; 7,595 passengers on the Celebrity Galaxy from 3 visits; 3,142 passengers from the one visit on the Explorer of the Seas and 1,787 visitors on the single visit by Mariner of the Seas.
Two Holland America Line ships, the Maasdam brought 9,859 passengers on 8 visits and the Noordam, 1,911 visitors from one call.
The Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 brought 2,554 passengers on its lone visit to St. Kitts between January and June this year.
During the first six months the Azamara brought 2,628; the Royal Clipper, 1,216; Caronia, 2,747; Boudicca, 2,505; Island Star, 5,711 and the Emerald,11,629 passengers.
SCASPA figures indicate some 16,076 cruise passengers visited in June this year, compared to 12,594 for the same month in 2008, an increase of 3,482 or 27.65 percent.
The increase in June is attributed to the out of season visit for the second consecutive year of a ship from the Carnival Cruise Line. The Carnival Victory brought 12,962 passengers from four calls and one call from the Freewinds with 64 passengers in the month of June.