St Kitts Tourism Authority and Ministry of Tourism announced that St Kitts (ports Basseterre and Charlestown Nevis) received country's millionth cruise passenger today, July 16, reaching the key number of arrivals which for the first time in island's history gives it marquee port status.
St Kitts reached the 1M cruise passenger mark this morning via the arrival of passengers from Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. The cruise ship, which has a 3,782-guest capacity, docked at Port Zante cruise pier at 8:00 a.m.
The welcome delegation was led by Tourism Minister Lindsay Grant who selected the 1 millionth guest upon disembarkation. The passenger was treated to a complimentary half-island tour. The occasion was further commemorated with T-shirts given to arriving passengers. Everyone was treated to an experience of island’s culture through live performances by a steel pan band and masquerades in a grand celebration.
So far this season, Royal Caribbean Cruises lines, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises and Royal Caribbean International, have made 102 port calls to St Kitts, bringing more than 350,000 cruise passengers to island. Including visits from all international cruise lines over the 9-month period between October 2017-June 2018, the total number of cruise calls into St Kitts grew from 358 up to 486 as compared to the same period in 2016-2017, an increase of more than 35%.