Royal Caribbean increases port calls to St. Maarten in 2020

Details

Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 25 February 2020 25 February 2020

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., working in partnership with St. Maarten port representatives, has taken a significant step in advancing its relationship with the highly rated cruise destination of St. Maarten. As an initial effort, RCL has modified its itineraries by adding 15 port visits to the island in 2020 that will increase the number of cruise arrivals there to more than 68,000 guests.

Traditionally, the St. Maarten vacation destination experiences its peak in visitor arrivals between December and March. Between May and December, there is a reduction in those visitor arrival numbers that impact the island’s tourism-based economy. Additional RCL guest arrivals during the May to December period help moderate the highs and lows of St. Maarten’s tourism season fluctuations.

“In order to grow our partnership, we are taking the proactive step of enhancing our Eastern Caribbean itineraries by replacing a day at sea and adding a coveted visit to St. Maarten,” said Vice President of Port Development, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Joshua Carroll. “It’s part of our culture at Royal Caribbean to focus on continuous improvement and this extends to our relationships with destination partners. It makes perfect sense for us to embrace the win-win opportunities with the additional port calls by Freedom of the Seas that brings not only economic benefit to a great partner like Port St. Maarten, but also offer our guests an amazing travel destination.”

“For an innovative ship like Freedom of the Seas to expand its calls here translates into a significant investment in economic development and tourism jobs,” said Senior Port St. Maarten Manager, Roger Lawrence. “We look forward to working with Royal Caribbean as we continue to improve the port infrastructure to benefit all of our key tourism stakeholders to sustainably build on the numbers of visitors who appreciate our leisure travel offerings.”

Beginning in May 2020 and running through December 2020, St. Maarten tourism officials anticipate that Royal Caribbean vacationers on the newly amplified Freedom of the Seas will have a front row seat to take advantage of its beaches, snorkel and adventure experiences.

“With many of our first-time visitors, the cruise experience to St. Maarten is the window through which they are introduced to the wonders of our island with its dynamic Dutch/French Caribbean culture, its idyllic beaches and engaging tour options,” said Lawrence. “Since Hurricane Irma, we have made tremendous progress with our tourism infrastructure and we welcome Royal Caribbean’s renewed focus and commitment to increase the number of visits to our port. With the thousands of additional Royal Caribbean guests now projected to visit, the potential is there for them to become St. Maarten’s greatest vacation champions.”

Carnival plc plunges to five year low amidst Coronavirus woes

Details

Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 24 February 2020 24 February 2020

Shares in Carnival plc, the UK domiciled and listed holding company in Carnival Corporation & plc group, fell to levels last seen half a decade ago as concerns over the Coronavirus outbreak hit the equity markets.

Around 0930am local time, Carnival plc traded 5.5% lower at £28.40 in London, plummeting below the £30.00 level for the first time in some five years.

At that time, the shares were recovering from the effect of the sinking of Costa Concordia and an engine room fire on Carnival Triumph the vessel adrift. Both incidents occurred in early 2013.

The FTSE100 index of leading shares was also sharply lower, down 3.3% since the market’s opening on Monday morning on the Coronavirus outbreak worries.