Cruise Tourism to Resume in August

Anthony Mahler

Cruise tourism remains on hold, despite several dates for the resumption of weekly voyages to Belize previously being announced.  The latest update on when Belize can expect visitors to disembark on its shores came this morning from Minister of Tourism Anthony Mahler. 

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations

“Another important sector is the cruise sector and we’ve had extensive conversations with the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association and specific lines.  We were advised from Norwegian that their first voyage to Belize would be a test run on August fourth and the official voyage to Belize with passengers will be [on] August seventh out of Montego Bay.  They are looking to change out of Montego Bay and go back to one of the home ports in the United States.  We’ve also spoken recently to Carnival and Carnival represents over seventy percent of the capacity into the country.  They were saying to us initially that they would have returned later on this year, it is good to note that they will start in July with four voyages; four in August and six in September.  It is just a start, but it is a good start and I believe that by the end of the year with the robust bookings that the cruise lines have been talking about, that we will have cruise tourism back to its full capacity sometime early next year.”