Feb. 25, 2003 – The cruise ship Grand Princess, which had been scheduled to leave the Caribbean in the spring to operate in the Mediterranean over the summer will instead remain in the Caribbean, The West Indian Co. announced on Tuesday.
The 2,600-passenger ship will alternate weekly Eastern Caribbean and Western Caribbean itineraries for the summer season beginning May 4. Sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the vessel will be calling at St. Thomas on its eastern route, on alternate Wednesdays between May 14 and Sept. 17.
WICO announced the repositioning of the Grand Princess following the conclusion of discussions with Princess Cruises regarding the deployment and berthing of its ships for the next year. No reason was given for the company's decision not to operate the Grand Princess in the Mediterranean. While there are widespread concerns about looming war in the Middle East, Princess will have another ship cruising there this summer.
Other Princess plans:
– The 1,950-passenger Sun Princess will return from Alaska on Oct. 5 to begin calling at St. Thomas on alternate weeks through April 24, 2004.
– Its twin sister ship, the 1,950-passenger Dawn Princess, also will return from Alaska and will be visiting St. Thomas weekly from Oct. 11 through April 19, 2004.
– The 2.600-passenger Golden Princess, sister ship to the Grand, will return from the Mediterranean on Oct. 29 and call weekly through April 28, 2004. After that, commencing May 4, 2004, the ship will alternate seven-day Southern Classic (Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Sint Maarten, St. Thomas) and Southern Caribbean Explorer (St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, Caracas, Aruba) itineraries out of San Juan.
– A new ship, one which will break the 3,000-passenger barrier, is scheduled to begin year-round cruises of the Eastern and Western Caribbean on April 17, 2004. The 3,100-passenger, $500 million Caribbean Princess is a "grand class" ship. Sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, it will visit St. Thomas on alternate Tuesdays beginning April 27, 2004, with further stops at Sint Maarten and the Princess Cays in the Bahamas.
Edward E. Thomas Sr. WICO president, said he was pleased to conclude arrangements with Princess Cruises prior to the upcoming 2003 Seatrade convention, "where competition among destinations is at its toughest."
The 19th annual Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention is set for March 3-6 in Miami Beach, Florida. Attendance topped 10,000 at last year's event, also at Miami Beach. It was at that event that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull announced via a release that he had "canceled" a Port Authority agreement with two cruise companies — Carnival and Royal Caribbean — which called for the companies to invest $31 million in expanding the Crown Bay dock and developing an adjacent shopping center in return for economic incentives.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
