BASSETERRE, St. Kitts -- MINISTER of Tourism, Lindsay Grant has announced that the Federation would see additional ships docking at Port Zante for the remainder of the year, as they work to finalise an itinerary for the season.
All of this comes against the backdrop of local stakeholders working towards meeting the necessary requirements and protocols recommended by the international cruise lines.
While addressing reporters at a press conference yesterday (Oct. 14), Grant indicated that coming out of his recently held meeting with the cruise lines, adjustments were made to existing protocols to meet the standard for the sector.
One protocol, he disclosed that was recommended, is for all taxi/tour operators who would be in contact with passengers must take a PCR test 24 hours prior to arrival of a vessel.
That one was shotdown by the Ministry as they work to fine tune existing protocols with the cruise lines.
“I want to make it clear that that scenery does not reflect in all of the cruise lines. It is only one particular cruise line and maybe one other who are requesting 24-hour testing prior to arrival,” the Minister disclosed in response to an SKNVibes question surrounding the realistic approach to that within the local sector.
Despite that, however, the Minister noted that after meeting with local stakeholders, including tour operators, “they are not adverse to having the testing done. So, we have been able to get a particle by-in from them in terms of how to proceed with that”.
On the current schedule, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority is expecting dockings from the Viking Orion and World Navigator.
In the case of the former, it will make a call on October 25, while the the latter is expected to arrive on October 23 before sailing to Nevis on October 24.
