Caribbean Cruise Ports Lead Segment Surge

Ships at Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda

The Caribbean, the cruise industry’s largest deployment region, is driving its post-pandemic resurgence. Several regional destinations are reporting robust 2024 cruise arrivals following similarly positive results in 2023.

The region’s cruise ship surge lies behind a global passenger increase. A total of 31.7 million travelers cruised in 2023, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)’s 2024 State of the Cruise Industry report. The total represents a seven percent increase over pre-pandemic 2019.

Of that number according to CLIA, 44.2 percent of 2023 cruise passengers traveled to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda, far outpacing the 18.5 percent who sailed to the Mediterranean, the next-highest global region.

In all, 12.9 million cruise passengers traveled to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda in 2023, a 7.3 percent increase over 2019. “The Caribbean gained almost one million new cruise visitors in 2023 compared to 2019,” CLIA officials stated in the report.

The cruise growth trend is evident, said destination officials. The Bahamas will host 5.6 million cruise passengers at its Nassau Cruise Port in 2024, said Chester Cooper, minister of tourism.

The figure will exceed the 5.4 million the port hosted in pre-pandemic 2019, said Cooper. “We are about 40 percent higher on cruise passengers at the Nassau cruise port,” he said.

In Barbados, government officials say 392 cruise calls carrying 715,527 passengers are confirmed for the 2024 winter season. The figures represent an 18 percent increase compared with the 358 calls and 608,583 passengers hosted in 2023.

Overall, Barbados’ 2024 cruise passenger arrivals are poised to exceed its 2023 numbers, with 826,338 passengers expected to arrive at the country’s Bridgetown port this year, arriving on 338 calls. Last winter, Barbados hosted 661,635 passengers arriving on 373 calls, said Ian Gooding-Edghill, minister of tourism.

Curaçao Ports Authority (CPA) officials quoted in a Curaçao Chronicle article anticipates 300 cruise calls with an average occupancy of 90 percent in 2024. The ships will deliver 800,000 cruise passengers to the destination this year, a 13 percent increase over 2023 totals.

Cruising High

The dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda is also among the Caribbean’s 2024 cruise visitation leaders. The destination is expected to host 800,000 cruise ship visitors in 2024 according to government tourism officials quoted in a WICNews.com report.

On March 12, Antigua and Barbuda hosted 15,808 passengers aboard six cruise ships, a record for the dual-island destination. The vessels included ships from Costa Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Aida Cruises and Sea Dream Yacht Club.

Antigua and Barbuda followed its record March with a five-ship day on April 1, as vessels from Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Emerald Cruises carrying 10,820 visitors called at the destination, according to government tourism officials.

Caribbean tourism officials attending last week’s Seatrade Cruise Global conference in Miami Beach detailed the cruise segment’s resurgence in their countries.

Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s tourism minister, said Royal Caribbean Group officials “reaffirmed their commitment to Jamaica,” during the conference, maintaining a target of 400,000 annual visitors at Jamaica’s Falmouth cruise port.

The country hosted 389,319 cruise passengers in 2023, a 29.7 percent increase compared with 2022.

Saying “Seatrade 2024 signaled the returning strength of the cruise sector,” Bartlett held discussions with Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Line and Princess Cruises during the event.

The Jamaica minister also held “very positive” discussions with MSC Cruises officials regarding “their interest in forging a larger strategic partnership involving investment in local infrastructure.”

Regional Resurgence

Other Caribbean nations reporting recent cruise visitation growth include the Turks and Caicos, where Experience Turks and Caicos officials reported 98,161 cruise ship visitors in March, the year’s highest total.

The Dominican Republic’s cruise ports hosted 52 cruise ships in April said Atahualpa Paulino, northern regional director of tourism, in a DominicanToday.com report.

The higher 2024 Caribbean arrivals follow similar success across 2023. The twin-island federation of St. Kitts and Nevis hosted 774,512 cruise ship visitors in 2023, a 61 percent increase over the 481,077 arrivals in 2022.

British Virgin Islands Ports Authority (BVIPA) officials said the territory hosted 720,392 cruise ship visitors in 2023, a 110 percent increase over the 343, 571 visitors hosted in 2022. The 2023 total “also surpasses the highest recorded arrivals” of 699,105 passengers in 2016, according to BVIPA.

Growth Gap

Significant room for growth remains for the Caribbean cruising despite the increased arrivals in 2023 and 2024.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ 2023 cruise arrivals growth still trails the 1,053,388 cruise visitors the destination hosted in 2019, according to statistics from Tourism Analytics.

Bermuda hosted 525,413 visitors on 183 cruise ship calls in 2023, up 30.5 percent and 11.6 percent respectively from 2022, according to the Bermuda Tourism Authority’s 2023 Visitors Arrivals Report. Yet the total still trails the 535,561 cruise visitors Bermuda hosted in 2019.

The Cayman Islands hosted 937,000 cruise ship visitors in 2023, according to Economics and Statistics office data quoted in a Cayman Compass article. The figure represents a year-over-year increase of 118.1 percent but is about half of the 2019 total of 1.83 million cruise visitors.

“We are seeing the huge [cruise] growth, but if we haven’t yet reached the numbers before COVID,” Hugo Clarinda, Curaçao’s deputy tourism director, said earlier this year.

The Caribbean nation hosted “around 700,000 cruise visitors” in 2023, said Clarinda. “We will surpass 800,000 for sure,” he predicted.  “Cruise continues to be important part of the mix [that] contributes to [our] economic impact.”