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April 22, 2008
DEJONGH: ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES COMMITS YEAR-ROUND SHIP CALLS TO ST. CROIX BEGINNING IN MAY 2009 Governor John P. deJongh, Jr. was advised Tuesday by officials of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) that it has included St. Croix on the itineraries of two of its ships beginning next year. "We have been in discussions with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines since early last year on the potential and attractiveness of the St. Croix market as a scheduled destination. These discussions have included the V.I. Port Authority and the West Indian Company, Limited. After a site visit by RCCL in October, I am extremely pleased with this positive step forward." "In announcing its 2009-2010 Caribbean Cruise season, Royal Caribbean committed two ships to St. Croix including the popular "Adventure of the Seas" which will call year-round every other week and the "Serenade of the Seas" cruise liner," deJongh said. The governor further said that this announcement, coupled with an earlier commitment by Disney Cruise Lines that it had added St. Croix to its schedule, is tremendous news for St. Croix and highlights his Administration’s ongoing efforts in working with the major cruise lines to provide regular cruise ship traffic to St. Croix, and diversify the visitor mix to the island to provide both economic stability and growth. The "Adventure of the Seas" will homeport year-round in San Juan and will be offering two new alternating seven-night Caribbean itineraries with Sunday departures, while "Serenade of the Seas" will join "Adventure of the Seas" in the winter and offer a Saturday departure, according to a news release from Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL). Officials at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines advised deJongh that 20 cruise ship calls will take place in both 2009 and 2010. DeJongh said Tuesday that RCCL’s resumption of regular cruise ship calls, along with the previous announcement by Disney Cruise Lines, will provide small business owners, retail shops, vendors and on-shore excursions the certainty of customer flow to make the necessary investments that will enhance the branding and competiveness of St. Croix in the Caribbean region. "We welcome the opportunity to see St. Croix develop into a formidable cruise destination and the recent announcement by two cruise lines, the active participation of VIPA and WICO in all major discussions and the formation of the Cruise Ship Working Group, are positive movements." Anticipating the announcement of regular cruise ship calls to St. Croix, the Virgin Islands Port Authority Governing Board voted today to approve the expenditure of funds for maintenance dredging at the Frederiksted Pier. The dredging work is necessary for the safe maneuvering of the Voyager-class cruise liners. According to the RCCL website, the "Adventure of the Seas" is a 138,000- ton Voyager-class vessel which can accommodate 3,114 guests. The 1,020-foot long vessel entered service in 2001. The "Serenade of the Seas" is a 90,090-ton cruise liner which entered service in 2003. The Radiance-class ship can accommodate 2,501 passengers. With more than 3,000 cruise passengers on St. Croix every two weeks, deJongh said, the resumption of regularly scheduled cruise ship calls is the first step in realizing the economic potential on St. Croix. "The newly assembled Cruise Ship Working Group will use the momentum to expand and further build cruise ship traffic in both districts." |
