By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE arrival of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line at Freeport Harbour on Friday marks the first international cruise ship to return to sailing in the Western Hemisphere in the last 15 months since the COVID pandemic.

The Adventure of the Seas brought 1,068 passengers and a crew of 918 to Grand Bahama on its first visit. The vessel is expected to bring some 13,000 Royal Caribbean cruise visitors over the next three months.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis and Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar were at the homeporting inauguration of Adventure of Seas at the harbour.

Russell Benford, vice president, Government Relations, the Americas, Royal Caribbean Group, was also in attendance and spoke at the ceremony. The cruise line will homeport in the Bahamas and will be provisioning the vessel in Grand Bahama for food supplies and fuel.

Dr Minnis said RCC is leading the return of cruising in the Americas.

“It gives me great pleasure to join you here in Freeport Harbour to deliver part two of the welcome back to our nation’s longstanding partner Royal Caribbean International,” he said.

“The people of Grand Bahama have a deep appreciation for the significance of Royal Caribbean’s move to homeport in The Bahamas and to feature a full day on this beautiful island as one of the highlights of Adventure of the Seas 7-day itinerary.”

He noted that Grand Bahama’s proximity to the continental United States positions the island as a popular destination for a day away and weekend cruises from South Florida and as a port of call for longer Caribbean cruises.

The Prime Minister reported that cruise arrivals to Grand Bahama have been making a comeback from 2019 through February 2020.

In 2019, he reported that Grand Bahama recorded 56,987 stop-over visitor arrivals, and close to half a million in cruise visitor arrivals (416,287 cruise visitors).

In 2020, the Prime Minister noted that the island saw 69,708 visitors for February alone. “An excellent performance in visitor arrival numbers,” he added.

“Had Grand Bahama continued on that trajectory, we could only imagine what the cruise visitor arrival totals would have been by year-end. The COVID-19 pandemic brought tourism activity and cruising to a halt,” he said.

Dr Minnis said that things are returning to a sense of normalcy after many painful and difficult months.

He indicated that the arrangements negotiated to lay the foundation for Adventure of the Seas Day in Grand Bahama were three-fold.

These were to identify an exciting slate of options in tours, excursions, eco-Adventures, providing one-of-a-kind experiences that cruise visitors could choose from. Secondly, to choose a list of ground transportation providers and professional service providers, and thirdly, to source a list of procurement vendors for the purchase of fuel for the vessel and the purchase of seafood and vegetables for the plates of the 1,000 plus guests and 900 plus crew aboard the Adventure of the Seas weekly cruises.

He noted that Royal Caribbean visitors will have the choice of some 15 existing tours, excursions, and attraction visits that have been specifically curated just for them.

Guests also have the option of scenic island tours led by the many BahamaHost certified taxi drivers who specialize in guest tours.

“For the cruise visitors’ Day in Grand Bahama, special consideration was given to expose our guests to the rich, dynamic culture of the island on display at Smith’s Point. Smith’s Point is an authentic Fish Fry experience taken to a new level, with all day long music, dancing, culinary demonstrations, food and beverage tastings, and history walking tours,” he said.

Dr Minnis stated that the overall health of the nation’s economy is contingent on the success of Grand Bahama’s fortunes.

He is urging Grand Bahama residents to get vaccinated.

“We are appreciative of our nation’s 50- year partnership with Royal Caribbean, who, in returning to sailing, has moved to increase its relationship with The Bahamas. To help to restore our economy and a greater sense of normalcy, I encourage Grand Bahamians to be vaccinated,” he said.

Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said RCCL homeport signals the road to the resumption of the cruise programme in Grand Bahama.

“Today marks the return of cruise passengers to Grand Bahama,” he said. It has been 16 long and painful months. During which absolutely no cruise ships have sailed the waters of the Bahamas, and it has been 16 long painful months during which no cruise ships have stopped here in Freeport.

He thanked RCC for its decision to homeport in the Bahamas at a time when the country needs it most.

“RC is probably the easiest cruise line to work with, said the minister.

He noted that the Bahamas, being one of the most tourism-dependent countries in the world, was negatively impacted way more than most in March when the pandemic hit in March.

“To make matters worse this pandemic came at a most inopportune time when the Bahamas, particularly when Grand Bahama was at its most vulnerable, trying to rebound from the ravages of Dorian which devastated parts of this island and Abaco,” Mr D’Aguilar said.

“So it is with a heart of gratitude that the Bahamas welcomes and embrace RC’s decision to for the very first time start a cruise right here in the Bahamas, and include in its weekly itinerary a stop in Grand Bahama.”

“Today marks the ability for the GB economy to begin the rebound of tourism, which is clearly underway. Starting and ending a cruise in the Bahamas, has never happened before. That is why this cruise is so historic,” Mr D’Aguilar said.

The Tourism Minister also reported that cruises from South Florida will resume far earlier than anticipated.

He noted that while the CDC had prevented cruises from restarting and the cruise industry executive had projected cruises from the US to resume September, November, or just before Christmas, RCC announced on June 4 that six of its award-winning ships will begin sailing from major cruise ports in South Florida and Texas, in July and August.

Russell Benford said they are pleased to resume sailing and homeport in the Bahamas.

“After a 15-month suspension of global cruises, finally we are returning home, with Adventure of the Seas, the first international ship to return to the Western Hemisphere,” he said.

Mr Brenford also noted that RCC is close to finalizing the agreement with the government for major development plans for Grand Bahama, which includes the redevelopment of Freeport and the Grand Lucayan Resort.

He noted that they plan to develop 5 new berths to accommodate the largest cruise ships in the world.

The RC executive stated that the size and scope of its investment project in Grand Bahama will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and will mean 250 additional annual ship visits to GB and more than $1.5 million cruise passengers annually. Once completed, it will generate thousands of jobs for Grand Bahama.

“What this represents for the Bahamas over the next quarter of a century is projected to be a $12b increase in Gross Domestic Product,” he said.

He noted that it will include 3.1 billion in income earned and a $2.1b increase in government revenue, he said.

Mr Brenford said: “It means a lot to us to be a part of the rebirth of Grand Bahama.”