St. Kitts has received its one millionth cruise passenger, according to new data from the St. Kitts Tourism Authority and Ministry of Tourism, marking the key number of arrivals that gives the island marquee port status for the first time in its history.
St. Kitts reached the one million cruise passenger mark the morning of July 16 with the arrival of guests from Royal Caribbean International's Freedom of the Seas. The ship, which has a capacity of 3,782 guests at double occupancy, docked at the island's Port Zante cruise pier at 8:00am. Tourism Minister Lindsay Grant led the welcome delegation and selected the millionth passenger upon disembarkation, who was treated to a complimentary half island tour. The occasion was further commemorated with special t-shirts given to arriving passengers and everyone being treated to an experience of the island's culture with live performances by a steel pan band, masquerades and more.
So far this season, the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. cruise lines -- Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises -- have made a total of 102 port calls to St. Kitts, bringing over 350,000 cruise visitors to island. Including calls from all international cruise lines over the nine-month period from October 2017-June 2018, the total number of cruise ship calls into St. Kitts grew from 358 to 486 as compared to the same period from 2016-2017, an increase of over 35 percent.
Source: St. Kitts Tourism Authority
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