Over 600,000 Cruise Passengers Expected to Visit St. Kitts
Over 600,000 Cruise Passengers Expected to Visit St. Kitts
Visits by cruise ships to St. Kitts’ Port Zante pick up momentum from November 1 and will continue for the next few months for the 2011/2012 Cruise Ship Season. An estimated 625,000 passengers are expected between October 2011 and September 2012.
Information from the St. Kitts Tourism Authority’s Cruise Ship Schedule, indicates that between November 2011 and May 2012, there will be 67 days when one ship will berth. There will be 60 days when two ships will be at Port Zante at the same time and 16 days when three ships will be berthing together.
According to the schedule there are three days when four ships will be in port at the same time and one day when five ships will be visiting Port Zante on the same day.
An estimated 84,000 cruise passengers from 38 ship calls are projected for November, an estimated 106,000 passengers are projected in December from 49 ship visits and 95,000 passengers in January from 42 ship visits.
In February 2012, it is estimated that 98,000 passengers will visit from 47 scheduled ship calls and a similar number in March 2012 from 49 scheduled ship calls. Just over 48,000 passengers are expected from 19 scheduled ship calls in April and an estimated 16,000 passengers in May from six ships as the official season closes.
Eleven cruise ships are expected to make inaugural calls this season. Visiting St. Kitts for the first time including those on a one-time call or on a schedule for the first time include the Allure of the Seas, Carnival Valor, Celebrity Silhouette, Jewel of the Seas, Mein Schiff 2, the Saga Ruby, Saga Pearl 2, Seabourn Quest, Navigator of the Seas, Queen Elizabeth and Thomson Dream.
The 1,611-passenger MS Thomson Dream is currently owned by Costa Cruises and will make 11 calls with an estimated 17,720 passengers to Port Zante.
The 446-passenger Saga Pearl 2, is the former Astoria, and embarked on her first cruise in March 2010 and will make one call to St. Kitts. Its sister ship, the Saga Ruby, will also make one call to Port Zante this season.
The 2,500-passenger MS Jewel of the Seas is Royal Caribbean International's newest cruise ships and has the highest percent of outside cabins in the fleet. The 90,090 gross tons Jewel of the Seas will pay one visit to St. Kitts on November 3.
Also making its inaugural call to St. Kitts this season is the Celebrity Silhouette of the Solstice-class cruise ship. The 2,850 passenger Celebrity Silhouette is the fourth ship in the Solstice class, her sister ships being Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Reflection. Solstice Equinox and Eclipse entered service in 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively and have Port Zante on their schedule during the 2011/2012 season.
The 122,000-ton Celebrity Silhouette which was launched this year makes its inaugural call to Port Zante on November 11th. Six calls are scheduled this season. The $500 million 3,700-passenger Carnival Valor, the largest Carnival ship based out of the Port of Miami, Florida makes one call to Port Zante on December 29.
The following day, December 30th, it will be history in the making when the 5,400-passenger Allure of Seas, berth at Port Zante. The 225,282-ton 16-passenger ship can accommodate a maximum of 6,300 passengers in all berths.
The German-owned 2,281-passenger MV Mein Schiff 2 is a Century class cruise ship built in 1997 and was formerly the Celebrity Mercury. Its inaugural call to St. Kitts on November 22 will be followed by nine additional visits.
Making its inaugural scheduled call to St. Kitts is the MS Navigator of the Seas, the fourth out of Royal Caribbean International's five Voyager-class cruise ships.
Once one of the largest in the fleet and still ranks among the largest passenger ships in the world, the Navigator of the Seas, measures 138,279 gross tons and can carry 3,840 passengers, plus crew. Eight calls are scheduled this season.
The 2,058-passenger twelve-deck-90,400 tons Queen Elizabeth, is scheduled to make one call to St. Kitts and will berth at Port Zante on December 8.
Another new ship, making its inaugural call to St. Kitts is the MV Seabourn Quest, a luxury cruise ship in the Seabourn Cruise Line. The 450-passnger ship which entered service in June of 2011 will make 3 calls. It is owned by Carnival Corporation.
One ship, the Carnival Victory, will continue to make out of season visits. Berthing every Friday, the 3,050-passenger capacity will make 18 calls between June 2012 and September 2012 bringing an estimated 54,900.
