The southern Caribbean cruise season has formally kicked off all through the West Indies, and St. George’s, Grenada, welcomed its first mainstream cruise customer with Movie star Cruises’ Movie star Summit on Friday, October 21, 2022.
The ship is simply the primary of greater than 200 anticipated cruise ship visits within the coming months, each providing friends a singular alternative to immerse themselves within the distinctive Caribbean vacation spot.
First Ship Calls on Grenada
The Millennium-class Movie star Summit introduced an estimated 1,500 passengers to St. George’s, the capital of Grenada, on October 21 for the season’s first extremely anticipated go to of a schedule that features 202 cruise ship calls within the subsequent few months.
Grenada Tourism Authority estimates that greater than 375,000 cruise ship vacationers will go to the tiny island nation – which has a inhabitants of simply over 112,000 – within the subsequent few months. The cruise season for Grenada historically runs from October via Might.
Port Prepared for Elevated Guests
The distinctive variety of cruise guests anticipated in Grenada is an 11% improve in cruise tourism from the pre-pandemic 2018-2019 season, and the nation is able to welcome each visitor.
“Grenada is prepared for the 2022-23 cruise season. In preparation, the GTA has facilitated coaching and workshop periods targeted on skilled improvement, hospitality and cultural engagement periods, aimed toward enhancing service excellence,” mentioned Petra Roach, CEO of the Grenada Tourism Authority.
“That is a part of an general technique to make sure our tourism stakeholders equivalent to taxi operators, artisans and distributors are ready for the season and can present top quality, culturally sound {and professional} providers that improve our vacation spot advertising.”
The island, referred to as “The Spice of the Caribbean,” is focusing significantly on superb, distinctive experiences cruise vacationers might not get elsewhere.
“Many cruise guests are repeat guests who select to return to the locations the place they’ve had the perfect and most genuine experiences,” mentioned Roach.
Conventional dancers and drummers are normally available to welcome cruise guests, and a wide range of excursions can be found to go to the island’s historic websites, lovely pure options, discover culinary tastes, and extra. Native crafts and spices can be found on the market, and there are lots of choices for cruise friends to get pleasure from, it doesn’t matter what their preferences.
The island options 40 superb seashores, six chocolate factories, 4 rum distilleries, and greater than 30 excellent dive websites, together with the biggest shipwreck within the Caribbean and the World’s First Underwater Sculpture Park.
Island officers and stakeholders have labored properly collectively to additional develop cruise tourism, and are trying ahead to extra collaboration and financial alternatives.
“Over time, our workforce on the Grenada Tourism Authority has established a superb community of trade companions in addition to numerous private and non-private stakeholders,” mentioned Minister of Tourism Lennox Andrews. “Collectively they’ve all collaborated to take full benefit of the advantages of the cruise trade.”
Cruising to Grenada
Together with Movie star Cruises, extra cruise strains which have scheduled port visits to Grenada this season embrace AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean Worldwide, Princess Cruises, MSC Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Oceania Cruises, and extra.
Due to the island’s excessive southern location – it’s on the southern finish of the Grenadines island chain, lower than 100 miles north of mainland South America (Venezuela) – Grenada is normally solely featured on longer Southern Caribbean or unique Caribbean itineraries, or else as a part of voyages that additionally name on South American ports.
Many smaller ships and luxurious strains function Grenada and different much less mainstream ports of name on their itineraries, providing extra distinctive experiences and genuine alternatives for friends to get pleasure from.
