The six cruise ships arriving Wednesday were anticipated to bring 12,000-plus visitors. File photo.
NASSAU, The Bahamas--Nassau Cruise Port (NCP) was expecting six ships in its berths on Wednesday for the first time in the port’s history, bringing an anticipated 12,000-plus visitors who would explore New Providence, NCP’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Maura Jr. told Guardian Business on Tuesday.
Maura explained that there could have been more than 20,000 cruise passengers arriving in Nassau if not for the continued COVID-19 pandemic and certain protocols aboard cruise lines.
He added that cruise numbers are returning from a decline in January, when the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 caused many cruise reservation cancellations.
“We have steadily seen an improvement in cruise ship occupancy, to be just over 60 per cent now,” said Maura.
He explained that the improvements to Nassau’s cruise port are already paying dividends, as the infrastructure can now accept more ships and bigger ships than it ever could before.
The port was expected to receive on Wednesday, Carnival Cruise Line ships Carnival Sunshine and Carnival Legend; Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s (RCCL’s) Brilliance of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas and Independence of the Seas; and MSC’s Meraviglia.
Next Wednesday RCCL’s newest ship Wonder of the Seas – which is currently the largest ship in the world – will visit Nassau for the first time.
“Today [Wednesday – Ed.] is a landmark occasion for us, a huge milestone given that this is the first time we’ve actually had six cruise ships in port at the same time,” Maura said.
“We’re very excited for March 9, when we have the Wonder of the Seas arriving and at that time, we will have five ships in port.
“As the cruise industry has recovered and more vessels put to sea we are beginning to see the benefit of having the sixth berth. We’re going to continue to see that benefit because more and more ships are setting sail.”
Berth six was completed in December and NCP expects all marine construction to be finished by May, said Maura.
NCP is expecting cruise berth bookings for this year to surpass 2019 numbers and has logged bookings for 2023 that are already higher than those of 2022. ~ The Nassau Guardian ~
