Antigua and Barbuda’s Tourism Delegation led by the Hon. H. Charles Fernandez held a series of meetings with the country’s critical cruise line partners recently in Miami.

In its communication to the major cruise lines the destination provided updates to industry partners on the recently announced partnership with Global Port Holdings (GPH) and the Government’s strategic plans to expand the St. John’s Port facilities, to position the destination to take advantage of the growing

Cruise line executives reconfirmed their support for the initiative taken by Antigua & Barbuda to improve its infrastructure to offer the best possible service guests, according to a statement.

A major increase for the destination comes from TUI Cruises, at the Mein Schiff 2 will increase calls to the destination after an absence of three years.

The Mein Schiff 2 will visit the destination on its inaugural call on November 6 with a total of 13 calls for season 2019-2020 bringing over 37,000 passengers, according to a statement.

Norwegian Cruise Lines will return with the Norwegian Epic along with the Norwegian Bliss. The latter will make its inaugural call on December 9 with over 4,000 passengers.

In addition, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises are regular callers, according to a statement.

In a joint meeting with representatives for all the Carnival Corporation brands, the commitment was given at the highest level by all the attendee member lines to continue to work together with Antigua and Barbuda to mutual benefit.

Minister of Tourism the Hon. Charles Fernandez in all meetings thanked the country’s cruise line partners for their support over the years and reconfirmed Antigua and Barbuda’s commitment to working with all partners for win-win outcomes, as the country continues on its development path, to become a premier port of call for all cruise lines visiting the Caribbean.