Cruise ships will begin returning to the Cayman Islands from March 21, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan announced Friday evening.
The resumption of the industry will be a phased approach, Bryan said, with arrivals initially limited to a maximum of 40% of previous passenger volumes.
During the first month of operations, safety protocols will be assessed and evaluated to determine what changes, if any, are required.
The decision, which is pending Cabinet approval, is expected to be confirmed early next week when formal changes to the COVID control regulations will be made.
The return of cruise ships to George Town, for the first time in two years, will be good news for the taxi drivers and tour operators that rely on the sector for the majority of their business.
Bryan said in a press release, “The PACT administration does not take the decision to reintroduce cruise tourism lightly; the fact remains that while the pandemic persists, all travel, whether by air or sea, presents a certain degree of risk.
“However, as we are seeing with stayover arrivals, our island’s high vaccination rate, coupled with having the right safety protocols in place, is allowing our tourism industry to recover.”
Visitor number caps
During the first phase, slated to last four weeks, total cruise passenger numbers will be capped at 75,000 – just less than half of the monthly average for 2019.
If all goes to plan, that visitor cap will be lifted late April, though health regulations will remain in place.
Government did not give precise details at this stage of what conditions or testing requirements cruise lines and their passengers must meet to anchor and disembark in Cayman. The proposed regulations are being reviewed by the Programme Board and partner agencies.
According to Friday’s press release, no COVID-positive passengers, crew or their close contacts will be permitted to disembark, whether they are symptomatic or not.
“These [regulations] are intended to take into account the unique characteristics of the cruise industry and the fact that cruise passengers are only in the jurisdiction for 6-8 hours on average and do not overnight,” the statement indicated.
“Around the world cruise operations have been safely resuming, and public health measures, such as pre-embarkation tests and wellness checks that comply with COVID-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in effect.
“Individual cruise lines have also developed their own safety protocols that exceed CDC guidelines, and ships are now equipped with excellent medical facilities, including intensive care and isolation units.”
The announcement follows talks between government ministers, including Bryan and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Autilia Newton, and the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association.
Bryan said he hoped the month’s advance notice would give businesses time to prepare.
“After two years of uncertainty there is finally light on the horizon, and I encourage businesses to start staffing up and making the necessary preparations to give cruise passengers a great experience when they arrive.”
He insisted that health and safety remains priority number one and that the phased approach would ensure “residents and visitors are well protected as we welcome cruise passengers back to our shores”.
‘Critical mass’ needed for local businesses
Speaking earlier on Friday, Troy Leacock, Cayman Islands Tourism Association vice president and spokesperson for the North Sound boat operators, said the anticipated return of cruise would be welcomed by many businesses.
He anticipated a relatively slow ramp-up and suggested business owners may need continued support from government through July, as they dust off the cobwebs and get their boats and buses back at full throttle.
A ‘critical mass’ of passengers is needed for the businesses, including the tender boat operators that serve the industry, to get started, he added.
“If we get one ship in, you have 50 operators that are all going to be trying to cater to that one ship,” he cautioned.
Leacock acknowledged that the cruise sector was not supported by everyone in Cayman but said there were many businesses and jobs that rely on those visitors.
Speaking on the Cayman Compass and Rooster FM weekly news show ‘Beyond the Headlines’ on Friday morning – prior to Bryan’s announcement later in the day – he said there was work to be done to make the cruise industry more profitable for the island.
He said a strategy that targeted the right ships and increased the per passenger spend could help reduce numbers and create a new relationship with the industry that worked in Cayman’s best interests.
Asked about ongoing negotiations with cruise businesses, he said it was encouraging that a conversation had opened up about long-term issues within the sector.
“We need to look at it and recognise that we need each other,” he said.
“I think that it’s not just a question of negotiation, I think it actually is a question of making sure that both the cruise and the activity industry on island understand what it is that we need to be successful.
“The relationship needs to be much more of a partner relationship… working with cruise ships to make sure that our on-island activities are being effectively marketed to their visitors and allowing independent tour operators that do not have contracts with the cruise ships to actually benefit from cruise visitors.”
A press conference is anticipated in the coming weeks with details of the approved cruise ship schedule.
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Cruise ships not going to help much. Few people are even on the ships. The tourists won’t return until the hotels get serious and cut the room rates. No one is paying $1,400 a night when they get pretty much the same experience in Turks and Caicos for HALF that price. Someone forgot to tell the Seafire, Ritz, and Westin they no longer have a monopoly on the upper end tourist dollar in the winter.
I predict 3 months of 25% occupancy will wake them up
Can someone please start a new cruise ship referendum, to get rid of these nasty polluters forever.
I’m going to assume from what we heard before that the cruisers won’t be tested before they disembark, because it is impractical. I will also assume that they won’t need to apply on the travel Cayman portal.
If both of these assumptions are true, then should I also assume that these will be eliminated for air travel?
Right!
Exactly!!!
As I predicted Government’s insistence that passengers be tested before they disembark, and that Cayman be the first port of call have gone out the window and we have kowtowed to the FCCA. Come April I further predict the 40% cap (actually almost 50%) will be lifted and the floodgates opened, swamping our roads and the sandbar and persuading many of our valuable stayover visitors to look elsewhere.
I seriously doubt all regs for overnight air guests will ever be as lax as it appears the cruise industry has achieved, at any time. Did anyone notice that when the 2,5,7 day negative test requirement for overnight visitors was lifted, at the very same time an announcement that re-opening for cruise passengers would be immediately forthcoming? Wonder if there is any connection between these 2 actions? Further, as reported in this Compass, at a meeting of the Fla Cruise Industry reps and CIG tourism officials, the Cruise reps set a much higher bar for Cayman to provide a “Cayman Unique Experience” for a higher price, presumably more profitable to the Cruise ship operators. What do you want to bet that if Cayman comes to be criticized as being not adequately “unique”, the Cruise operators will use that as a lever to extract more concessions from Cayman? Has anyone concluded that the cruise industry needs Cayman [and its impeccable reputation as a destination] more than Cayman needs the cruise industry? Just sayin’
Indeed. When will air travel regulations be relaxed as much as the cruise ship regulations? Why do we still have to request permission to come home through Travel Cayman? I seriously doubt the same will apply to the cruise passengers. Please let’s get a sustainable tourism model up and running BEFORE we destroy our islands any further. PLEASE>…
No more thumbs up or down? Sad!
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