Trinidad records 98 cruise calls, 46% hike in passengers arrivals for 2023/2024 season

Trinidad and Tobago: A total of 98 calls and a 46% increase in the number of passengers has been recorded for the 2023/2024 cruise season of Trinidad and Tobago. The statistics have marked the successful winter season for the country, with an increase in passenger arrivals, tourism participation, and economic impact.

The cruise 2023/2024 was started in Trinidad and Tobago on October 11, 2023, with the arrival of the Seabourn Cruises’ Seabourn Pursuit on its inaugural call. The cruise ship made its maiden voyage to the Port of Port-of-Spain with around 298 passengers, who were welcomed by the Ministry of Tourism with entertaining performances of DJ, masqueraders, Moko Jumbies, and steelpan sounds.

Notably, the season ended with the maiden voyage of the luxury vessel Island Sky, which docked on April 17, 2024, with the arrival of over 500 passengers. The arrival marked the end of the cruise season, featuring the arrival of over 100,000 passengers.

The cruise season of Trinidad and Tobago has welcomed 177,579 passengers through different cruise vessels who explored the beauty of the country and chose pre-packaged tours. Out of these passengers, a total of 78,051 have been docked at Port of Port of Spain as 36 cruise ships have been given calls to the port.

On the other hand, a total of 99,528 have been docked at both Scarborough and Charlotteville in this cruise season. The port of Scarborough welcomed 51 calls from the cruise ships, while Charlotteville welcomed 11 cruise calls.

As per the estimation, TTD$48,568,292 has been considered as the total amount that the passengers have spent on cruise ships during the season. This year, Trinidad and Tobago have welcomed six inaugural calls of the different vessels, marking the potential of the destination.

The first inaugural call was of the Seven Seas Splendor which has brought 703 passengers, and the second vessel was the Silver Dawn which come up with 566 passengers. Island Sky also made its maiden voyage around Trinidad and Tobago with 96 passengers on board.

During the inaugural visit of MSC Seaside at Port of Spain, the arrival of the passengers has been passed the twenty-thousand mark in Trinidad. It was the 18^th call for the 2023/2024 cruise season which was docked on December 15, 2023.

With the return of Princess Cruises’s Ruby Princess, Trinidad welcomed 2,886 passengers and 1500 crew in this year’s cruise season on November 15, 2023. It was the second cruise call of the season, marking the disembarking of the passengers for the pre-packaged tours.

Trinidad also bid farewell to Jewel of the Seas which was the prime cruise ship for the country for 2023/2024 cruise season. The ships have been docked for several times at the country, marking the arrival of thousands of passengers.

In addition to that, the cruise calls have been given to nine different cruise lines from across the globe, including Royal Caribbean, MSC Voyager, Sea Dream, and many more. The number of return calls stood at 13 for this year’s cruise season.

With the cruise season, US$48,568,292 have been injected into the economy of Trinidad and Tobago, out of which US$8.149,630 have been spent on tours.

As per the feedback of the visitors, 75% would recommend Trinidad to a friend or colleague, 95% would return to Trinidad on another cruise, and 79% rated their destination experience in Trinidad between 9 and 10.