Last Updated on December 16, 2019, 11:10 PM AST by Anthony Morris
The 4,905 -passenger Oasis-Class “Anthem of the Seas,” refused to dock at St Kitts ‘ multi-million dollar second cruiseship pier, specifically designed and built to accommodate Oasis-class ships.
The EC$150 million pier was constructed to berth two Oasis-class ships at the same time, but when the Anthem of the Seas on Monday morning, it avoided berthing at the new pier. Two smaller ships, the 2,450-passenger Celebrity Summit and the 450-passenger Seabourn Oddessey instead berth at the new pier. One other ship, the “Britannia” of P&O Cruises joined the “Anthem of the Seas” at the older pier.
“When completed, the second cruise pier will be able to berth two-Oasis-class ships at the same time,” Minister of Infrastrure, Hon Ian Patches Liburd is on the record as boasting on multiple times.
Completed since mid-November and handed over to the St Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA), the new pier have several short-comings including its depth and a rock said to be of concern if the Oasis-class ships berth on one of its sides.
The EC$150 million facility has been completed at a time when St Kitts is experiencing a drop in the number of ships and cruise passengers expected for the 2019/2020 season compared to the 2018/2019 season.
According to the itinerary published by the St Kitts Tourism Authority, 420 cruise ship calls with an estimated 1,086,844 passengers are expected during the period from October 2019 to September 2020, when compared to 447 cruise ship calls with an estimated 1,212,462 passengers for the period October 2018 to September 2019, a decrease of 10% and 6% percent respectively.
As per information printed in the 2019/2020 cruise ship itinerary, Costa Cruises, Cruise and Maritime Voyages, Plantours and TUI which had Port Zante on 2018/2019 schedule have dropped St Kitts completely from the 2019/2020 itinerary.
TUI Cruises 2,534 passenger Mein Schiff 5 and Mein Schiff 6, which have a capacity of 2,534 passengers per ship are also missing from the 2019/2020 St Kitts cruise ship itinerary. Carnival Cruise Line which operated five ships with a total of 75 calls during the 2018/2018, season, will decrease one ship with a total of 66 calls for the 2019/2020 season.
The Crystal Cruises, which booked 23 calls from its 75-passenger Crystal Esprit and the 1,010-passenger Crystal Symphony in 2018/2019, will only make six calls from three ships in 2019/2020.
The most worrying reduction of all is said to be Royal Caribbean (RCL), which will make 65 calls for 2019/2020 with the seven ships, a significant reduction from the 85 calls to St Kitts from 8 ships in the previous cruise ship season.
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.
