St. Kitts Says Yes To Pier, No To Cruise Lines

While the island of St. Kitts would absolutely love to see more cruise ships swing through for a visit, Minister of Tourism Lindsay Grant made it clear this week that the island won’t be looking to one of the lines for help. During the weekly radio broadcast done by the government, aptly titled “Working For You,” Grant said that island nation would “learn from the mistakes of others” by taking on the expensive prospect of a second pier themselves.

“We don’t want Royal Caribbean to come and say they are building any pier for us,” Grant told listeners, “because if Royal Caribbean comes and builds a pier, they’re going to want a preference over Carnival or Norwegian.”

He went on to say, “If we can’t build the pier on our own, we’re not having it done.”

While a second pier at Port Zande has been on the table for several years, negotiations fell apart under the previous administration. According to the St. Kitts & Nevis Observer, discussions recently began with a new developer in the hope of fast-tracking the stalled project. “Timing is of the essence,” Minister of Ports Authority Ian “Patches’ Liburd told the paper. This is especially true as by the end of 2015, St. Kitts is expected to have welcomed approximately 1.2 million cruise passengers, the highest number to ever come ashore in a single year.

Photo: St. Kitts Tourism

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