Carnival Corp. and the Cruise Lines International Association met with diplomats and tourism officials from throughout the Caribbean and South and Central America to emphasize the strong ties between cruise lines and the destinations their ships visit.

Cuba expects the visits of 200 cruise ships in the upcoming winter season, the largest number of calls by those vessels ever, according to a Tourism official cited by specialized media. The visits by tourist and academic boats are expected to go the 2013 record highs one better.

A project for the construction of a modern cruise terminal has made significant headway. The Cuban port of Cienfuegos (center-south), the country’s second largest in terms of the volume of operations, will be the harbor of choice for this effort.

More than a million cruise ship passengers are expected to visit St. Kitts’ Port Zante, for the first time in history. This represents a 31.5 percent increase over the 2013/2014 season and a total growth over the past eight years of more than 500 percent. This season’s phenomenal is partly owed to Royal Caribbean.

Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport (MBJ) is set to welcome nine additional weekly flights during the 2014-2015 cruise season, as UK-headquartered Thomson Cruises stations one of its four vessels at Montego Bay’s north coast port.

Panama’s Tourism Authority (ATP is the Spanish acronym) has announced that the new 2014-2015 cruise season is going to tee off in October, with the arrival of such vessels as the Monarch, Vision of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Coral Princess and Regatta.