Peak Season: Nearly 250 Cruise Ships Carrying A Monthly Average of 60,000 Travelers Make Port of Call Where Happiness Lives

Aruba is a bona fide hit on the high seas during its 2003/2004 peak cruise ship season as 243 cruise ships carrying a monthly average of 60,000 passengers trade in their sea legs to touch land on the Caribbean oasis. According to the managing director of the Aruba Ports Authority, M.H. Henriquez, Aruba’s seven month long peak cruise season, which runs from October 2003 through April 2004, will prove to be very strong with approximately 412,000 travelers making port in the tropical paradise. From average size ocean liners to the awing mega ships, Aruba, where happiness lives, plays home to a host of impressive sea faring vessels.

In 2003, during Aruba’s annual highest cruise season, October to December, 110 cruise ships visited the Dutch Caribbean island. The month of October saw 35 ships, 26 being mega ships, call port on the island. In November Aruba hosted 33 ships including 29 mega ships. Proving to be the grand finale, December, the strongest month, welcomed 42 cruise ships, all of which were mega ships! Overall, Aruba has played home to near-record 545,910 cruise passengers in 2003. A whopping 561,000 sea-goers are expected in 2004, making Aruba the Caribbean’s premier cruise destination.

The island’s low cruising season runs from May through September. The typically slower months this year will see a first-ever, as Princess Cruises mega ship, the Golden Princess will call Aruba home every 14 days joining other cruise liners including Carnival Cruise Line’s Destiny and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Adventure of the Seas.

“We are delighted that Aruba has been able to maintain an average of 500,000 cruise passengers annually,” said Minister of Tourism and Transportation Edison Briesen. “The fact that cruise ships and their passengers continue to call on our beautiful and unique island in such strong and increasingly growing numbers reinforces the fact that Aruba is a destination that offers a bevy of activities and options for diverse cruise travelers.”