Cruise Lines Turn Down Grand Bahama

Major cruise lines are rejecting Grand Bahama as a port of call because it has little to offer tourists, according to Minister of Tourism Neko Grant, who met recently with officials of major cruise lines.

At a town meeting held at the Foster B. Pestaina Center on Monday night, Minister Grant told local stakeholders in the tourism industry that after trying to convince cruise lines to make Grand Bahama one of their ports of call, their response was “no thanks”.

He hit local taxi drivers, tour operators, vendors, business persons and artisans with the cold, bitter truth that major cruise lines like Disney said they would never even consider Grand Bahama because their customers feel harassed, ripped off, and say they have nowhere to go.

Minister Grant said the cruise business has declined in The Bahamas and other parts of the Caribbean by three to five percent, while it has increased in Europe by 25 percent.

Minister Grant said hundreds of destinations offer the same thing the Bahamas offers and Grand Bahama must do things differently to not only make people want to come here, but to make them want to come back.

He said cruise lines were told about the things the government will be doing to correct the problems in Grand Bahama, especially with regard to ground transportation and tours.