Last Updated on December 19, 2019, 5:15 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Norwegian Cruise Line has cancelled calls of two of its ships to St Kitts’ Port Zante this week, bringing to three the number of ships that cancelled this week.
According to the St Kitts Tourism Authority, the visit by the 5,400-passenger Norwegian Bliss on Thursday 19th December has been cancelled. The authority also announced that Saturday’s call by the 5,183-passenger Norwegian Epic on Saturday 19th December is also cancelled.
On Sunday 15th December, Princess Cruises cancelled the only scheduled visit of the 4,580-passenger Regal Princess on the 2019/2020 itinerary.
No reasons have been given for the cancellations.
The Norwegian Bliss, which made its inaugural call to St Kitts on December 6, has two other scheduled calls and the Norwegian Epic, 12 more calls.
Late November, the five remaining calls of the 6,400-passenger Allure of the Seas were cancelled as a result of a mechanical issue.
The seven cancellations comes following a projected decrease in the number of cruise ships and cruise passengers for the 2019/2020 cruise season compared to the 2018/2019 season.
The itinerary for 2019/2020 is projecting 420 cruise ship calls with an estimated 1,086,844 passengers compared to 447 cruise ship calls with an estimated 1,212,462 passengers for 2018/2019, a decrease of 10 percent and 6 percent respectively.
Costa Cruises, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Plantours and TUI which had Port Zante on the 2018/2019 schedule, have dropped St Kitts completely from the 2019/2020 itinerary.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
