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Although cruise calls generally slow down into the second quarter of each year, this year the slow down projects far less passenger numbers than projected for the same period last year.
April’s projections for cruise numbers are down 15 per cent on where they were for last year, May’s are down 23 per cent and June’s are down 15 per cent, based on potential projections if ships are full.
This would continue the downward trend in cruise tourism numbers, which was seen through most of last year.
The Grand Cayman cruise market has been feeling the effects of a generally soft Caribbean market since last year. Cruise operators have been shifting some of their supply out of the Caribbean and into the more profitable European market.
For instance, Grand Princess from Princess Cruise Lines will no longer frequent Grand Cayman from 8 April this year. However, another ship from that cruise line, Ruby Princess, will move in come November.
“The cruise lines always reposition ships,” said manager Cruise Operations and Security with the Port Authority Joseph Woods, who noted that it has to do with supply and demand.
Minister of Tourism Charles Clifford had not responded by press time with his take on the continual decline in cruise calls.
April is to be the busiest of the next three months with a planned total of 61 calls by 30 vessels according to the Port Authority’s schedule list. This would mean a potential of 165,755 cruise passengers, based on ships being at full capacity.
Comparing this to the projections for the same month last year, 11 more calls were projected than what is this year, with last year’s potential for cruise passengers calling 15 per cent greater than this year’s, based on ships being full.
But cruise numbers did not live up to their potential for the three months in the second quarter last year, as ships were not full.
Last year’s April potential actually transpired into 170,239 passengers, according to Department of Tourism statistics, compared to the potential for 195,321.
This coming May’s potential projection for passengers if ships are full is 23 per cent down on numbers that had been projected for that of the same month last year.
For May there are 35 calls from 14 ships planned, giving the potential for 108,696 passengers if ships are at full capacity.
Last May the Port Authority schedule showed 141,699 potential passengers or 33,000 less than this year for May if ships were full.
Again, last May ships were not full and of all those potential passenger numbers, 130,555 actually arrived.
This coming month of June has a potential to see 90,346 passengers if ships are full. Again, this is down, 15 per cent down, on the same type of projection for last year when there was the potential for 106,632 passengers in the month.
The number that actually arrived in May was again less than projected as ships were not full, with 95,966 passengers arriving in the month.
Next month, the busiest cruise day, Tuesday 8 April, sees seven ships in port. Other busy days are Tuesday 1 April, Tuesday 15 April, Thursday 17 April, when five ships are in each day.
In May the busiest days are those with four ships in port. They are Wednesday 7 May and Wednesday 21 May.
In June the busiest day is Thursday 19 June when there are four ships in port.
03-31-2008, 02:47 AM
Cayman - Slow cruise period ahead
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