“The fact that we will be welcoming this record number of cruise passengers to St. Kitts is a testament to the high quality of our tourism infrastructure and to the partnerships that our destination has forged with industry stakeholders,” said Senator Ricky Skerritt, minister of tourism & international transport. “Our performance must be examined against the backdrop of the development of a wealth of onshore activities based on our nature, rich history, and friendly people who help provide an authentic Caribbean experience for all of our visitors.”

This season’s growth is partly because the island will receive six calls from the Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum of the Seas, in its inaugural season. St. Kitts will also see the return of Disney Cruise Line for the first time since 2009, with the Disney Magic scheduled to make a total of four calls to the island this winter. Inaugural calls are also being made by Oceania Cruises’ Insignia and Norwegian
Cruise Line’s Norwegian Gem and Norwegian Pearl, which together will make seventeen calls.

In addition to increasing passenger arrivals from traditional ports of origin of the U.S. and the UK, the
geographic markets from which the cruise passengers originate have also been expanding to include Germany, Italy, France and Spain. The cruise lines that are scheduled to make calls to St. Kitts in the coming  season include Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess, P & O, Cunard, Oceania, Seabourn, Aida, Silver Sea, Windstar, Thompson and TUI Cruises.