Thousands converge on St. John’s when five cruise ships call

Taxi drivers, vendors and souvenir shop operators all reported a brisk day of
activity and business on Tuesday with five cruise ships calling at the St. John’s
Harbour.
They vessels were; the Enchanted Princess of Princess Cruises, Costa Serena and
Costa Pacifica of Costa Cruises, AIDA Perla of AIDA Cruises and Explorer of the
Seas from Royal Caribbean International. While these larger cruise ships called at
the St. John’s Harbour the smaller luxury yacht, SeaDream 11 docked at the
Falmouth Harbour.
Overall, it was a busy day for all as both vendors and taxi drivers were joyous in
their response to the business that the visitors generated during their stay. Even
some of the visitors were full of praise for Antigua and Barbuda stating that they
would like to return for an extended visit.
The Antigua Cruise Port has reported that already, the number of visitors to the
country so far this year has already surpassed the figure for least year at the same
time.
The ACP is confident that cruise passenger arrivals this year will top the total for
2023.
Meanwhile, stay over visitor numbers this year will almost certainly surpass those
for last year as this year is turning out to be one of the busiest ever on the calendar
of events for Antigua and Barbuda. Among the events taking place this year are the
Small Island Developing States 4 th Conference in May, World Cup T-20 Cricket in
June, Carnival in July/August, and matches in the CPL in August/September.