CARIBBEAN


Antigua is getting the first Royal Beach Club


Moko Jumbies greet passengers at Port Royal


FEATURE


Caribbean openings


Anne Kalosh looks at four key port developments in the world’s leading cruise region.


A


new ‘double port’ in Jamaica, a second pier in St. Kitts, a mega-berth and the first Royal Beach Club in Antigua and a


new docking site in Belize are a few of the Caribbean’s significant port infrastructure developments.


Port Royal, Jamaica


Jamaica’s newest cruise port gives access to historic Port Royal and to Kingston, the capital, less than half an hour’s drive away. This makes for a ‘double-port experience,’ in the words of William Tatham, vp cruise shipping and marina operations, Port Authority of Jamaica.


Port Royal has centuries of history. The indigenous Taino people occupied the area long before the Spanish arrived. After Jamaica was captured by England, fortifications were built and the town prospered on the slave trade and sugar exports. For a while it became a safe haven for pirates and privateers and was known as ‘the wickedest city on earth.’ A 1692 earthquake caused much of the town to sink into the sea, frozen in time. Starting in the early 18th century, Port Royal became Britain’s naval center in the Caribbean.


Kingston, meanwhile, is Jamaica’s largest city and offers cultural highlights like the Bob Marley Museum and Trench Town, the birthplace of reggae, ska and rocksteady.


seatrade-cruise.com Seatrade Cruise Review 51


At the $45m Port Royal Cruise Port, ships go alongside at a SeaWalk floating pier, which enabled the avoidance of dredging that could have disturbed the sunken town. So far, there have been four calls, all by Marella Discovery 2, spread from January to April. Eight calls are booked for 2021, including Marella, Club Med, Viking and Scenic with several other lines close to scheduling.


This slow ramp-up is deliberate, Tatham says, to ‘make sure we get it right.’ While SeaWalk can take very large ships, the largest targeted are in the 2,000- to 2,500-passenger range. And there is no intention to ever have more than one ship at a time, Tatham says. Anyway, the location doesn’t fit into the conventional seven-night itinerary from South Florida.


Disembarking on SeaWalk


Port Royal is completely cultural, historical and authentic. There are no zip lines, duty- free stores or T-shirt shops. Instead, the port authority has brought the 350-year-old Fort Charles back to life, with barracks, storerooms, cannons and uniforms being restored to the 1807 period.


‘Long-term, Port Royal will have three or four museums. There is enough history,’ Tatham says. For example, one could focus on the Royal Navy/maritime history, another on pirates and another on the sunken city.


Marella passengers have been treated to a fair of authentic Jamaican vibes, cuisine and music with products and services from iconic Jamaican brands including Red Stripe Beer, Appleton Jamaica Rum and Devon House I-Scream. Tours to Kingston include the Bob Marley Museum, Trench Town Culture Yard and New Castle for a Blue Mountain coffee experience.


Port Royal joins Montego Bay, Falmouth, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio, tallying five destinations in the Cruise Jamaica brand.


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