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St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas (c) and Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture (r) received personal awards from Carnival Corporation Chairman, Mickey Arison (l) during the official opening of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Assocation (FCCA) in recognation for their dedication to cruise tourism in the twin-island Federation. |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, APRIL 20TH 2006 - Carnival Cruise Lines has confirmed that it will be sending one of its large "Spirit" Class ships, the "Carnival Legend," to St. Kitts starting in January of 2007.
This was announced Thursday by St. Kitts and Nevis' Minister of State for Tourism, Sports & Culture, Sen. the Hon. Ricky Skerritt, on his return from a meeting with Carnival Cruise Line's Vice President for Marketing & Planning, Mr. Terry L. Thornton.
"St. Kitts will be receiving six calls of the "Carnival Legend" starting in January 2007 on Monday 1st January. Additional calls will be made on Friday 2nd February; Saturday 17th February; Monday 5th March; Wednesday 21st March and Friday 6th April," said Skerritt.
He disclosed that St. Kitts will remain on the itinerary of the "Carnival Legend" during the 2007/2008 cruise ship season with eleven port calls beginning on Saturday 27th October, 2007.
"With a lush landscape, excellent beaches, unique heritage sights and visitor attractions, St. Kitts is emerging as one of the premier destinations in the Caribbean. We are delighted to include this magnificent island on the Carnival Legend's new 8-day Caribbean departures from Ft.
Lauderdale beginning in January of 2007," said Carnival CEO & President Bob Dickinson.
The "Carnival Legend" was built in 2002 and is one of four ships in Carnival's "Spirit" Class. This technically advanced ship measures 88,500 gross tons, and carries 2,124 passengers and 930 crew. Sailing full, her spring 2007 deployment to St. Kitts will bring 12,744 new berths to the Federation's 2006/2007 cruise ship calendar.
Skerritt welcomed this decision by Carnival to officially add St. Kitts to its Caribbean itinerary and noted that it has come after several years of the St. Kitts Ministry of Tourism knocking on Carnival's doors.
"It is not by coincidence that the decision followed the recent visit of top Carnival Executives to St. Kitts to attend last year's FCCA conference.
Their visit to our destination, and their first hand experiences here, confirmed the excellent potential of the St. Kitts tourism product to the Carnival Cruise Line decision makers," Skerritt said.
He thanked all local tourism stakeholders for their support in attracting Carnival to St. Kitts, including the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority. "Our focus must now be to work together to make these calls enjoyable for our visitors and profitable for all concerned," said the Minister.
