Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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Largest Carnival ship calls on Nassau By JIMENITA SWAIN ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ jimenita@nasguard.com: The largest "Fun Ship" Carnival Dream made its inaugural visit on the port of Nassau yesterday, bringing nearly 4,000 passengers onboard. Carnival Dream is a 130,000-ton ship, which has ushered in a new type of "Fun Ship" Superliner. It was constructed in Italy and spans 1,004 feet in length. The ship was built at a cost of $860 million. Government officials and members of the media were given a tour of the vessel yesterday. "Carnival Cruise Lines is the number one supplier of cruise passengers to The Bahamas, delivering close to one million Carnival passengers to the destination in 2008," said Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, Hyacinth Pratt. Pratt said Carnival is a valued partner of the government in the continued growth of the cruise tourism industry. Asked how officials are going to entice cruise ship passengers to leave the ship and its all inclusive amenities of food, shopping and entertainment, Minister of Tourism Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said The Bahamas' tourism product needs to "be much more attractive." In addition, he said, that was what the downtown redevelopment project is about. The government has committed to spending more than $75 million to redevelop Nassau Harbour, Prince George and Woodes Rogers Wharfs and Arawak Cay as a part of the revitalization project. During the first component of the project, the Dutch company Boskalis is dredging nearly two million cubic yards of material from the Nassau Harbour, which should be completed by the end of the month. The dredging is necessary to accommodate larger cruise ships than normally cruise into Nassau, according to government officials. The contract is worth $44 million. The government also proposes to relocate the commercial shipping port from Bay Street to Arawak Cay. Captain Carlo Queirolo of Carnival Dream said the dredging made it easier to maneuver the ship to port. Queirolo admitted that he could have gotten the ship in without the harbor being dredged, but said his task was made easier. He said the ship can accommodate a maximum of 4,600 passengers and 1,400 crew members. Three thousand, eight hundred passengers were onboard yesterday, according to the captain. He estimated that a quarter of a million passengers will travel on Carnival Dream in 2010. Queirolo, who has been a part of the Carnival family from 1985, said he has been visiting Nassau from he was a junior officer. "I think Nassau, Bahamas is one of the most beautiful islands in the world," he said. The tourism minister said a lot has changed since Queirolo began visiting Nassau. He also noted that the average cruise passenger spends $100 in port. "That's why when we start talking about the redevelopment of downtown Nassau what is most important is to make sure we have sufficient attractions in downtown Nassau that the maximum amount of people leave the ship so that expenditure goes up in terms of the total volume," Vanderpool-Wallace said. With more ships coming in, the aim is to increase visitor numbers and increase the spending by the visitor. Carnival Dream entered service on September 21 with an inaugural 12-day Grand Mediterranean tour from Rome. The ship will depart Port Canaveral for year-round, seven-day cruises and will call on Nassau once every two weeks. Some key features of the vessel include a new entertainment concept called The Piazza, which is an indoor/outdoor cafe with live music, elaborate children's facilities, a Carnival water works aqua park and larger staterooms with dazzling ocean views.
Friday, November 20, 2009 |
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