Jamaica cruise arrivals up marginally

[Jason]

With a 3.7 per cent increase in the number of cruise passengers visiting the island during the first ten months of the year, tourism officials are predicting a strong winter season for cruise.

"Very, very good. It is going to be very strong we have had a good year so far," beams William Tatham, vice president of cruise shipping and marina operations at the Port Authority of Jamaica.

The winter season officially began in mid-December.

For the 11 months to October, just over 1.1 million cruise passengers visited Jamaica - 800,000 in Montego Bay and 300,000 in Ocho Rios. For the period, the actual number of cruise ships that docked here was 7.7 per cent more than the similar period last year.

In a telephone interview with the Business Observer, Tatham said that additional ships were expected to visit Jamaica next year. In January, the Costa Magica will visit Ocho Rios every two weeks for the season. This will add to the Norwegian Jewel, the largest ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet, and the latest ship to call on Ocho Rios. It has been doing so every two weeks since November.

Tatham says that Montego Bay will get a major boost in June when it welcomes the Freedom of the Seas, which carries between 3,600 and 4,000 passengers. This ship will visit every week throughout the year.

By the next third quarter, Queen Mary, which is the largest cruise liner in the world, is expected to visit the island.

Additionally, every 60 days a new ship will be starting in the Caribbean.

As part of its preparation to build capacity to accommodate more and larger vessels, the Port Authority will be putting out for tender soon, the design for the expansion of the Montego Bay port, Tatham said.

Tatham said that the investment to be undertaken will double the current capacity of the port, and that the contract for the work would be awarded within a year.

In the interim, a breasting dolphin will be constructed at the pier by March 2006 to accommodate larger vessels.

"The breasting dolphin is a stopgap; it is just to allow us in the short term to accommodate larger vessels on the corridor berth," explained Tatham.

Tatham also revealed that two European cruise lines are being vigorously pursued to improve the area of home porting.

"We have successfully hosted Aida Cruises now for five years. We are now speaking to two European companies now, but it is too early now to give names," he said.

He said, however, that despite the successes to date, tourism harassment continued to plague the cruise shipping industry.

"Harassment continues to be an area that needs to be worked on. I don't think we should ever be satisfied until all our guests are treated with respect and welcomed warmth," said Tatham.

Source: Horace Hines, The Jamaica Observer

[TheSkipper]

Interesting article, Jason. The last sentence is the basis of the island's most recent problems. Harassment is very much an issue with many passengers.

At 6'4" and 240 lbs I don't have much of a problem with it, but have talked to many passengers, especially women alone or traveling with other ladies who simply skip the port or return to the ship early due to the harrasment from the street vendors.

These vendors mean no harm, but do believe in the "hard sell". That turns off a lot of the cruise passenger visitors.