Cruise ship may stop at Brac

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Cruise ship may stop at Brac

By: Cayman Net News Online[/size]

The Europa has applied to stop at Cayman Brac in January.

Negotiations are in progress for the first cruise ship to visit Cayman Brac for more than five years.

According to Port Superintendent Ashton Bodden, the last cruise ship call was April 2001. This was a small luxury cruse ship, the Windstar, which stopped twice on the Brac altogether and its sister ship, the Windsong, has stopped once.

Several ships have been scheduled to call in to the Brac since that time, but because of the weather, they passed by without stopping, said Mr Bodden.

He explained that the ships generally want to stop at this time of year “when it is cold up north”, but this is difficult because of the tradewinds and the geographical layout of the Island.

“Unlike Grand Cayman, there is no safe harbour here,” he noted.

The Europa, a small ship with maximum capacity of four hundred and eight passengers, has applied to stop at the Sister Island on 2 January, 2007.

The schedule posted on the website does not currently include Cayman Brac and this visit has not yet been confirmed.

However, Cayman Net News understands that the German cruise line Hapag-Lloyd, which owns the Europa, is very interested in making a call at the Brac.

According to their website, The Europa offers deluxe suites, as well as various bars and lounges, a library with Internet access, and an auditorium for lectures and seminars.

The ship has on board a golf simulator, hairdresser and beauty salon, fitness room, sauna, massage facilities, wellness area and swimming pool.

The Hapag-Lloyd fleet’s flagship, the Europa is the only cruise liner worldwide to have been awarded the coveted distinction of ‘five-star plus’ seven times in a row by the Berlitz Cruise Guide 2007.

According to Port Authority Manager for Cruise Operations and Security, Joseph Woods, the ship visited Grand Cayman 19 December. There will be approximately two hundred passengers on board at the time when it has applied call into the Brac, he said.

When the cruise line made the application to stop on the Brac, he referred them to District Administration (DA) Marketing and Promotions Manager Chevala Burke to find out what attractions are available on the Island, said Mr Woods.

According to Ms Burke, the cruise line was informed that what was available on the Brac was limited.

There were a number of tour buses, car rentals, the Cayman Brac Museum, the Heritage House, diving, fishing and snorkelling.

She said the ship will be heading to the Brac from a port of call at Montego Bay, Jamaica, and will be traveling on to Progreso, Mexico, afterwards. The only approved port for such visits to the Brac is the Creek Dock, said Ms Burke.

Cruise ship stops are rare on the Brac and nothing is, as yet, set up for such visits.

However, in order to promote this type of tourism development for the Island, Mr Kirkconnell, together with representatives from DA, Sister Islands Tourism Association, and CAL Express, made a presentation during the FCCA conference.

They spoke to a group of platinum members of the FCCA, including some of the main decision makers in the cruise ship industry from private and public sectors.

“We want to know what needs to be done in order for this to happen,” Mr Kirkconnell told Net News afterwards. “We’re pushing very hard.”

Gerry Dilbert, Owner and Operator of Reality Tours: First Class Tours and Services, is currently developing day trip tours to Cayman Brac for stay-over tourists on Grand Cayman and cruise ship passengers.

Mr Kirkconnell’s FCCA presentation described the day trips from Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac as the initial stage for economic development for the Brac.

“A realistic volume would be one hundred and ten visitors per day, five days a week,” he told those gathered.