The cruise sector will continue to experience a robust season as details of the scheduled calls for February have come to light.
According to the Operations Manager of the Antigua Cruise Port, Rawle Reynolds, there are fifty-three cruise ship calls slated for the month. These include two vessels that will be making inaugural calls at the St. John’s Harbour.
The vessels are the AidaBella, which is owned by Royal Caribbean, and Ambassador Ambience, of Ambassador Cruise Lines.
Although down from January’s seventy-six, February’s very respectable fifty-three calls still represent a substantial number of stops on these vessels’ routes and confirms Antigua and Barbuda’s status as a sought-after cruise destination.
On Saturday, the cruise sector will celebrate a historic milestone when the country welcomes the largest vessel to have ever visited the country – the Carnival Arvia – makes its inaugural call.
The Arvia will be homeporting in Antigua and Barbuda for the remainder of the 2022/23 cruise season. This is expected to stimulate significant economic activity within the tourism sector and in the country on the whole.
More than one thousand passengers will begin their cruise on the Arvia from Antigua and Barbuda each time a trip departs.
The national economic benefits will be reaped as these passengers will be flown into the country on chartered aircraft after which they will need to be transported by local taxi operators to the St. John’s Harbour where they will board the vessel.
A major celebration has been planned by tourism and cruise industry officials to welcome the Arvia to Antigua on Saturday.