St Kitts secures major milestone with P&O Cruises Homeporting deal

St Kitts and Nevis: The island nation has added another great milestone to strengthen its position as a premier cruise destination. St Kitts has officially secured homeporting operations with P&O Cruises - part of the Carnival Corporation group. This new addition highlights St Kitts as a key starting point for many cruises in the future.

Homeporting means that cruise ships will begin and end in St Kitts, with passengers boarding and disembarking on the island directly. This is a large shift for the island, which was previously just considered a port of call, but could easily become a key player in cruise tourism moving forward.

This new achievement is expected to bring several economic benefits to St Kitts. Minister of Tourism Marsha T. Henderson said that the “fly cruise” model, which has passengers flying into the island to board their cruise, will encourage them to spend more time and money on the island. Visitors will stay in local hotels, eat at local restaurants, book tour operators and shop around Basseterre - capital of St Kitts.

Upgrades to Port Zante

To accommodate the increased traffic, St Kitts is planning large-scale improvements to Port Zante. This includes the development of a new cruise ship terminal which will meet international standards. This will allow St Kitts to manage more cruise ships and passengers easily. 

The upgrades at Port Zante will also allow St Kitts to strengthen its role in the Caribbean cruise network. This will also help more cruise lines choose to homeport in St Kitts, positioning the island at the forefront in the region's tourism.

During the previous three months, St Kitts has received passengers from major Carnival ships that include Carnival Dream, Carnival Venezia, and Carnival Pride. This will be the start of a stream of additional tourism to St Kitts and the new homeporting deal is expected to increase visitors in the future.