In welcoming the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Brilliance of the Seas and some 2000 passengers, on their first voyage to The Bahamas, director of tourism, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace on Saturday noted: “What these ships are offering are so much better than what we have on land that the cruise ship passenger is saying, ‘Why am I paying to go someplace else when I got all these on board for free.'”
Over the last 18 months, more cruise ships have been berthing at Nassau, and at Grand Bahama, and so with this in mind, the Ministry of Tourism is committed to increasing cruise ship passengers’ expenditure and marketing activities.
Thomas Wildung, captain of Brilliance said the one-year-old Bahamian-registered ship is one of five ships that will berth at Nassau regularly next year.
Noting that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines is the second largest cruise line in the world, Capt. Wildung asked the Bahamian Government, if it has intentions to expand the port at Prince George Wharf in preparation for larger, more lavish ships.
“We have just ordered another ship, which will be absolutely the largest ship in the world, when that ship comes out. We’re seeing a lot of ships being built, and amazingly we are also filling them up,” Capt. Wildung said, adding: “But we’re facing one problem; that is we are running out of ports. We do need ports and we need bigger ports, because the ships are getting bigger and bigger and we need more room to accommodate the size of these ships.
“I don’t know what the situation is in Nassau, but if you ever planned to expand this port, please make it double the size of what you planned to do, because that’s what you will need in the near future, because [ cruise ships] are just going to continue to be bigger and bigger, and you will see more and more of them,” he advised.
During a tour of the 12-decked ship, the media, including CEO of the Nassau Guardian, Charles Carter and tourism officials viewed its extravagant casino, cinema; which seats 950 people, pools, Jacuzzi, a rock climbing wall, numerous bars and lounges, library, spa and fitness centre, and ate at one of six restaurants onboard.
The cruise ship also features a sports court, country club, shops, an art and photo gallery as well as other activities, specifically designed for youngsters.
By Khashan Poitier, The Nassau Guardian
