Great news for cruise

“It’s been busy ever since November,” said one of the staff in a gift shop in the Flaghip building on George Town Waterfront. With over one million cruise passengers coming here, numbers are looking good. But they still haven’t recovered from the pre-covid times, and are still at less than two thirds of the figures for 2019. But overnight guest numbers are much nearer to 2019, with a score of 93%, with the totals for November and December exceeding the Department of Tourism’s targets. 

On Christmas Eve there were five ships - with over 11,000 passengers in total, and Christmas Day saw 3 ships a-sailing in. Boxing day was back to five ships, including ships from Celebrity and Reflection. December 29 was particularly busy in George Town, with a total of four ships (two in George town and two at Spotts because of the rough seas) representing over eight thousand passengers all together. On New Year’s day there were just two ships, but things picked up again on the second day of 2024, with four ships and more than 11,000 passengers.

“We love the food here, and the people are so friendly, said Eryn and Michael and Nadine from North Carolina, who were enjoying a nice bit of sun and Christmas Breeze on George Town Waterfront. “We went to Key West. It was good but Cayman is different. - the food, the people, and  the culture. “We find the people very friendly.  she saidl    Eryn Michael and Nadine “we’re exploring a little bit by foot. so we don’t have a destination. we thought about going over there and getting a taxi and just riding somewhere.”

Anna and Joseph from Nova Scotia and Washington State were planning to spend some money in one of the Jewely stores, which was having a big sale with 70% off on gold and tanzanite jewelry.  “We went on a tour of the Botanical gardens and liked it very much we saw all the wonderful vegetation and healthy plants for medicinal purposes. “We also went to Pedro St James Castle we sat up there on the balcony and looked at the ocean. there’s a lot of history at st james castle and we saw the interactive display. This cruise ship started off from Ft Lauderdale then we went into Key West for the day on Christmas Day. We had a nice day at sea the next day and then today we a spending a beautiful day here in the Caymans and then we are going back to fort lauderdale tomorrow.” 

looking at the jewelry, Dana and Delany were really enjoying their day on Grand Cayman. “We went to Seven Mile Beach.  I liked it - the water there is very beautiful and I loved the color of the sea and the people here are very nice and friendly. i saw lots of seashells. I didn’t go in the water but  just gazed at the water - and the scenery is very beautiful. I come from Philadelphia and it is very cold there now so it is very nice to come here and enjoy some summer weather in December.”

in one of the stores of the Flagship building staff agreed that things had been nice and busy since November. There had been plenty of cruise tourists but the only trouble was, they were not spending as much money as they used to. They put it down to the hard economic times and the rise in the cost of living since the war in Ukraine and other global economic effects.

Sam and Jane from the UK were loving their visit, too: “We took a trip on the bus, and a little walk round the town. We’re really enjoying it - its beautiful” he said. We went to Seven Mile beach - lovely and beautiful. We saw the Rum Factory where they make the rum - Cayman Spirits Company - we thought it was very interesting and beautiful. And we also went to Hell and we liked that too.” they said.