Destination to be added to two Holland America Line transatlantic itineraries in the 2024 season

Bermuda is set to experience a bumper cruise ship season with the island preparing for 224 calls in 2023.

Bermuda Transport Minister Wayne Furbert, who made the disclosure, said: “The 2023 cruise ship season projections are very promising, and we are on course to return or potentially exceed pre-pandemic level. Our team is preparing for 224 calls with seven scheduled next month commencing with the arrival of the Norwegian Gem on January 4.”

He reported that the total estimated economic impact next year is US$200 million, an increase of 28 per cent over 2022’s estimated economic impact. The capacity projections for 2023 are estimated at 80 per cent or 559,000 cruise ship passengers.

According to the minister, “revenue is estimated at US$146.3 million in passenger and crew spending, US$23.6 million in passenger tax, US$10.2 million in transport infrastructure tax, US$6.6 million in visitor fees and US$12.4 million in cruise ship port expenses”.

Furbert advised that meetings with the Royal Caribbean Group, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Carnival Cruise Line were “very productive”.

Two news ships to call in 2024

Meanwhile Holland America Line, a part of Carnival Corporation, has announced that Bermuda would be added to two transatlantic itineraries in the 2024 season. The cruise ship Nieuw Statendam will visit Bermuda en route from Fort Lauderdale to France in April 2024, while the Zuiderdam will visit in May as it crosses from Fort Lauderdale to Ireland.

The Bermuda Royal Gazette reports that, in 2018, 180 cruise ship visits were scheduled, and 193 were scheduled in 2019 but owing to cancellations, the number of actual visits recorded were 171 and 184, respectively.

It was expected that 2020 would be a banner year for cruise ship visits with 196 calls on the schedule, but the global pandemic devastated the industry, resulting in only four of the calls coming to fruition. Meanwhile, 179 visits were scheduled last year, with only 36 recorded.

This year, 181 cruise visits were originally anticipated to take place. However, at least 15 visits were cancelled because of weather and issues related to the island’s COVID testing policy.

Last month, Furbert advised that 395,000 cruise ship passengers visited the island this year, injecting about $156.1 million into the economy.