500-thousand cruise passengers…‘within sight’

The countdown (or up) to the 500-thousand cruise passengers for the year is
on…with just over 21-thousand more passengers needed to make the target.
This after a total of 3,889 more passengers arrived in the St. John’s Harbour on
Wednesday aboard two cruise ships that sailed into port. The vessels are the
Norwegian Sky of NCL and Marella Voyager of Marella Cruises.
The visitors spent the day enjoying the many amenities that the country has to
offer, including shopping at the Vendors Mall or the Heritage Quay shopping plaza
or visiting some of the main historical sites and attractions.
Operations Manager at Antigua Cruise Port, Rawle Reynolds, recalled that for the
entire year 2023, just over 600-thousand cruise passengers visited Antigua and
Barbuda. Therefore, reaching the 500-thousand passengers mark within the first
half of the year is not only a remarkable achievement but it also a sign of good
things to come.
“This just goes to show that we ahead of the curve in passenger arrivals for this
time of the year. It’s already better than anything we have done for any previous
year,” he noted.
The 500-thousand passenger mark is expected to come on May 9 when the
Celebrity Beyond of the Celebrity Cruises dock at Heritage Quay. One can expect
a major celebration for the achievement of the milestone when it does happen.
Reynolds said the stakeholders in the cruise industry, taxi-drivers, souvenir shop
operators and pleasure boat operators have all been singing the praises of this
cruise season and the brisk business they have all been enjoying.
Operations Manager at the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, Javiar Jacobs,
shared his views of the attainment of 500-thousand passengers. He said this reflects
the confidence that the cruise lines have in the level of service, safety and the
amenities that are available in Antigua and Barbuda that they continue to send their
vessels and passengers here.