Cruise News

The Aruba Cruise Tourism Authority (CTA) recorded a growth in numbers of cruise passengers for the months of July and August. July 2009 saw a growth from 14.490 passengers Aruba received in July 2008 to a total of 15.456 passengers in 2009. The biggest growth was for the month of August, recording a record growth from 13.910 in 2008 to a total of 18.494 in 2009. These numbers represent both actual passengers as well as crew members. CTA also launched their new Aruba film on www.arubabycruise.com. For more information please contact (297) 583-3648 or email at info@arubabycruise.com

The annual  Holiday Gift Project organized by the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association member lines, the Government of Aruba and De Palm Tours was held  at Club Don Bosco, Noord.

Children from the Noord area will participate at this unique Christmas celebration and will have the opportunity to receive their presents from Santa Claus, who arrived onboard the Jewel of the Seas and was transferred to the Club by De Palm Tours.

The member lines are Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises (USA) Inc., Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International.

Coordinating in Aruba is the Aruba Cruise Tourism, Mr. Ernest Giel and on behalf of the member lines of FCCA, Miss Terri Cannicci.

The Enchantment of the Seas celebrated her first call plaque ceremony in the presence of amongst others special invitees of the Aruba Ports Authority NV, and SEL Maduro & Sons, the shipping company.

Special guest onboard the Enchantment of the Seas was the First Lady of Colombia, Mrs. Lina Moreno de Uribe, spouse of President Alvaro Uribe, who disembarked in Aruba and enjoyed a few hours shopping before flying back home.

A total of 2293 cruise guests were onboard the Enchantment of the Seas and according to Mr. Michael Ronan – Vice President, Government Relations, Caribbean Latin America & Asia, all disembarked to take part in the adventure of shore excursions, shopping, and the sampling of the local hospitality.

The consul of Panama, Mrs. Anabel Arends Mojica G. was also present for this occasion, since the Enchantment of the Seas is home porting in Colon, Panama and has amongst others Cartagena, Santa Marta Colombia, Aruba and her sister islands on the itinerary.

Carrying 1802 cruise guests onboard, the cruiseship MV Ocean Village TWO reached Aruban shores on Wednesday December 10, 2008.

Mr. Ernest Giel, on behalf of the Aruba Cruise Tourism and the Aruban community, presented a commemorative plaque to Capitan Angelo Vago during the traditional welcome ceremony on board in the presence of special guests.

On October 2, 2007, the Minister of Tourism & Transportation Edison Briesen and the Director of the Aruba Ports Authority inaugurated the new information & shopping building at the cruise terminal. This represents a three (3) million guilder investment. The renovation was completed just in time to welcome the new cruise ship season which runs from October to April.

2006 Brings in Over 38,000 More Cruise Travelers & 2007 Boasts Construction of Brand-New Cruise Terminal, New Ships Calling Port on the Island &More

Aruba’s a hit on the high seas in 2006, as the island exceeded expectations and welcomed an impressive 314 cruise ships with a total of 591,474 ocean-loving mateys. The notable seven percent increase of cruise calls over 2005 represents a noteworthy 38,655 additional visitors. The top cruise line, Royal Caribbean, brought a total of 201,433 beach-bound passengers to Aruba. Carnival Cruise Line’s 1321-room Destiny was the island’s top producing cruise ship, bringing 155,808 sun-seekers to the Caribbean oasis. In 2007, Aruba is poised to see even more growth in its cruise industry as major renovations are already underway at one of the three cruise terminals and the island is expecting nearly ten new cruise ships to call port this year.

Aruba’s cruise business has experienced a major boom over the past decade. Year-to-date numbers comparing 1996 to 2006 indicate that the island has seen a 15% increase of port calls and an astonishing 86.7% spike in the number of cruise visitors. Aruba’s annual cruise high season runs from October to December and last year the island recorded an increase of nearly 12,500 passengers over 2005, representing a six percent growth. Combined, these three months saw 127 port calls and over 206,179 visitors, with December being the strongest month bringing in 51 ships and 34,882 travelers to the island.

“The cruise industry is an extremely important one for Aruba and we are happy to see demand for the island as a cruise call continuing to rise significantly,” said Minister of Tourism and Transportation, Edison Briesen. “The notable developments at our port and ship facilities in 2007 is indicative of our dedication to the cruise business and its passengers.”

2007 is already looking to be a strong year for the cruise industry in Aruba, as eight new ships are expected to visit the port of Oranjestad, including Carnival Cruises Line’s Elation, Princess Cruise Line’s Island Princess and Emerald Princess. Additionally, throughout 2007 Aruba will continue to pour millions of dollars into major renovations to the island’s tourism product which includes construction of a new state-of-the-art cruise terminal, cargo and loading docks being moved from Oranjestad to Barcadera and much more.

“We are extremely pleased with the success that the destination and its ports are experiencing,” said Managing Director for the Aruba Tourism Authority, Myrna Jansen. “We anticipate the new cruise terminal, coupled with the major investments being poured into our tourism product as a whole, will continue to let us have the competitive edge in the Caribbean region allowing us to maintain the highest repeat visitor rate in the Caribbean at 40%.”

AIDA Cruises 2007/2008 winter season which sees the brand adding some new itineraries includes two fortnight sailings combining destinations in Central America and the Caribbean. These cruises, performed by AIDAaura and AIDAvita, will use Aruba as turnaround port. For more information please visit www.aida.de

Aruba Ports Authority started the construction of a completely new terminal building. The old ports terminal building, about 50 years old, has been demolished making way for a new state of the art building with new, more interesting shopping & information facilities. The first phase of this project is estimated to be completed in February 2007 and will cost roughly AWG 3 m florins.

As the new cruise season started on October 5th 2006 with the docking of the Infinity, Celebrity Cruises / RCCL, De Palm Tours prepared to give this ship a warm welcome as the first call of the 2006-2007 season.

The cruise season, reports Geraldine Keyter-Bisslik, Shore Excursions & Cruise Services Supervisor, De Palm Tours Aruba runs from October '06 to Sept. '07.

To celebrate the occasion Paul Connor, who was the first Calypso King of Aruba's Carnival 55 years ago and the person who introduced steel band music and Calypso

competitions to the island, played at the arrival hall as passengers came off the ship for their morning tours. Two Carnival dancers in luxurious costumes with extravagant body pieces also posed for welcome photos.

The event was organized by De Palm Tours and was sponsored by: De Palm Tours, Aruba Ports Authority and Maduro & Sons.

In the pictures Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise lines Infinity arriving in the port of Oranjestad on its last call of a two-week itinerary departing from San Francisco with 2000 passengers on board. The ship was greeted by various local & Dutch port executives among them Humphrey Tromp, Alfonso Boek, V/D Hart, Ricky Lacle, Johnny Serauss, and Giovanni Rajunath, Port Operations Manager at Maduro & Sons.

The port management reports Aruba will be enjoying over 300 calls for the upcoming season and is expecting the Pullmanturs, Blue Moon inauguration call at the end of October.