Cruise Visitors to the Cayman Islands will see immediate and interim improvements to their experience once they arrive on land in George Town, the Ministry of Tourism announced today.

Having announced that the cruise berthing project will now follow a procurement process that is in line with international best practice and be transparent and robust, the Ministry of Tourism is now seeking to put in place improvements leading up to the berthing facility coming online.

Upon analyzing the detailed schedule of cruise visitor arrivals for 2013, the Ministry identified 16 January 2013 as a day where seven ships, with almost 18,000 cruise visitors, are scheduled to be in port.  While this is great news based on the high number of cruise visitors in port on a single day, the Ministry of Tourism also saw this as an opportunity to improve the experience of cruise visitors while in port.

Minister Cline Glidden instructed the Ministry of Tourism to partner with the private sector to provide water distribution at points along Harbour Drive on the George Town waterfront.  This water distribution is a fairly simple improvement that will enhance the cruise visitor experience as they will undoubtedly have to form long lines in order to be tendered back to ship.

Looking to interim improvements to the cruise visitor experience, the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands has examined the Royal Watler Cruise Terminal and identified physical improvements.  First, the Port Authority is currently in the process of acquiring new shading to replace the tents that are now worn.  Second, the Port Authority is also currently in the process of acquiring benches to replace the concrete blocks, which will be replaced with the current tents that are in place.

The Ministry of Tourism is currently in the process of identifying other improvements to the cruise visitor experience and will be discussing additional improvements at the meetings on 17-18 January with the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association.

Tourism Minister Hon. Cline Glidden stated that his Ministry is committed to working to improve the cruise visitor experience currently, and up until there is a proper cruise berthing facility in place. Mr Glidden adds that his Ministry will keep the public up to date as further improvements are identified in order to improve the cruise visitor experience.