Ports & Itineraries

Grand Turk Cruise Center Re-Opened October 9th following Hurricane Damage Repairs

The Center with it's direct beachfront access, is a first-class facility nestled among nearly 14 acres of landscaped grounds. The cruise center’s location and the island’s geography offer vessels a safe approach and berthing year-round The short walk from the berthed ships to the cruise center (approximately 390 feet) allows guests ease of embarking and debarking at their leisure.

Visitors can either swim or snorkel in the ocean’s sparkling waters or in one of the largest pools in the Caribbean, stroll along the idyllic beach, relax in a chaise lounge or covered beach chair and even rent a private cabana for the day and enjoy a sea side massage. The cruise center is also home to a Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, a fun and exciting place the whole family can enjoy.

Visitors to the cruise center have the opportunity to peruse through a 45,000 sq. ft. shopping center which includes a 10,000 sq. ft. Dufry duty-free shop, and 35,000 sq. ft. of high-end jewelry stores, an array of unique and world-renowned apparel and t-shirt stores, locally crafted souvenirs and gifts, and food and beverage facilities. This includes merchants such as Dufry, Goodmark Jewelers, Ron Jon Surf Shop©, Piranha Joes, Dizzy Donkey, Silver Emporium, Del Sol, Rasta Pasta, Bonefish Charlie's, Starfish Oils, Royal Jewels, Indigo Pearls, Goldsmith, The Trading Post at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Within the cruise center, there is a four-acre transportation hub that provides rental cars, taxis, vans and buses for all land-based departures/excursions. For water borne excursions, we have constructed a small pier to easily accommodate those excursions right from within the welcome center.

Carnival’s Puerta Maya in Cozumel to Reopen Oct. 16

Representing an investment of more than $50 million, the new two-berth pier has been constructed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and can accommodate any ship among Carnival Corp.’s cruise brands. In addition to the newly rebuilt pier, Puerta Maya’s nine-acre cruise center, which features a wide variety of shops and restaurants, will also reopen, along with a four-acre transportation hub capable of accommodating dozens of taxis and tour buses. Four rental car facilities will be available as well.

The Oct. 16 calls by the Carnival Fantasy and Ecstasy will be the first of 550 cruise ship visits at Puerta Maya over the next year. In addition to calling at Puerta Maya, vessels from Carnival Corp. brands will continue to utilize the other two piers in Cozumel. Collectively, these ships will bring annually to Cozumel an estimated 1.5 million visitors, who are expected to spend $126 million on the island each year.

Puerta Maya’s cruise center houses 42 outlets offering apparel, fine jewelry, artwork and other merchandise from such recognizable retailers as Goodmark Jewelers, Del Sol, Piranha Joe’s, Dufry and Diamonds International. The facility also features 15 stand-alone carts where local merchants market handmade crafts, costume jewelry and souvenirs.

On-site dining options within the Puerta Maya complex include the Tres Amigos Bar, a new theme restaurant inspired by the 1986 hit movie starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short. The waterfront eatery -- the first of its kind in the Caribbean -- offers traditional Mexican fare, along with an extensive beverage menu. Also featured is Pancho’s Backyard, a new franchise from the downtown Cozumel eatery featuring ocean views, as well as Fat Tuesday, a waterfront bar offering frozen drinks and light snacks, along with a DJ and dance floor.

Other retail outlets at Puerta Maya include a pharmacy, convenience store and international pay phones. There is also a newly constructed shore excursion pier, separate from the main pier, which allows for quick and convenient access to water-bound excursions, as well as water-based transportation to and from the facility.

The Puerta Maya pier and cruise center is located on the southwestern part of Cozumel, approximately five miles south of San Miguel, the island’s largest city.

Turkey's popular tourism resort Antalya aims to become one of the cruise hot spots of Europe

The Québec Government is allocating $52.5 million to the development of international cruises on the St. Lawrence River. The strategy centers on partnership and the twofold objective of increasing tourism revenues in Québec and diversifying and stimulating regional economies through the creation or consolidation of businesses devoted to the reception of new international clienteles. “The development of port visits of international caliber along the St. Lawrence River and in Saguenay allows Québec to create wealth through the injection of new money in the economy,” said Raymond Bachand, minister of tourism and economic development, innovation and export trade.

The Strategy for the Sustainable Development and Promotion of International Cruises on the St. Lawrence River will enable us to increase, in particular, the number of American visitors, a priority tourist clientele for Québec. The ports of call proposed in the strategy include Saguenay, Sept-Îles, Baie-Comeau, Gaspé, Havre-Saint-Pierre and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

The addition of these ports of call will enable the St. Lawrence River to set itself apart as a cruise destination and will, as a result, consolidate Quebec City’s reputation and maintain that of Montréal. Montréal and Québec City will thus be more likely to become homeports or ports of embarkation and disembarkation. Trois-Rivières will also benefit from the development of cruises on the St. Lawrence.

To cover the investment needs over the next five years, the funding required is estimated at $156 million, to be provided through a partnership between the Québec and federal government and local communities.

Québec will contribute $52.5 million to the implementation of the strategy. Excluding the $9.8 million already invested in the development of the Quai A-Lepage in Saguenay, Québec’s investments over the next five years will be on the order of $42.7 million. The Québec ministry of tourism plans to allocate $34.2 million in new funding toward port and tourism infrastructure.

The ministry of tourism will also fund the cost of international promotion, marketing and studies pertaining to port and tourism infrastructure totaling $6.1 million. “I have always said that, to increase the use of our embarkation and disembarkation port, we must also develop ports downstream from Québec City. This strategy is being introduced at the right time for the St. Lawrence River overall,” said Ross Gaudreault, president and CEO of the Québec Port Authority.

The development of this industry in Québec could generate significant economic spin-off. According to a scenario that calls for average annual growth of 17 percent, Québec could welcome by 2014 nearly 400,000 passenger visits during some 300 port visits. This growth may ultimately generate annual expenditures of roughly $275 million. Between 2006 and 2014, overall tourist spending is expected to reach $1.4 billion

Jamaica Ready to Cut Deal with Two Major Cruise Companies

The government and the two cruise Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited and Carnival Corp. are in negotiations to extend a more than $34 million guarantee from both lines to land passengers into the island.

It is the opposite of the American Airlines deal, where the government pays the airline for missed passenger targets. Instead, these two cruise corporations, the biggest in the world (controlling 80 per cent of cruise travel), will pay government for missed passenger targets.

“We are now wrapping up these negotiations,” William Tatham, head of cruise shipping at the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), told the Business Observer in an interview. “We are following the same format of guarantees as before.”

Under that agreement, Carnival must bring in at least 500,000 passengers and Royal Caribbean 430,000 annually.

The negotiations with Royal Caribbean are now in the final stages, and discussions with Carnival, whose contract ends later this year, are underway. Royal Caribbean’s contract actually ends next year but due to a joint venture to build a new cruise port in Falmouth, negotiations were brought forward.

The government had never had to call on the guarantee, as the ships have achieved targets. However, last year was worrying, as there were some ships that were diverted to the Mediterranean, which led to a fall in cruise arrivals from 2006’s record.

Colombia is positioning itself as an ideal destination for the arrival of cruises