Cruise Ships are back to St. Croix

[kentdawn]

Cruise Ships are back to St. Croix. Royal Caribbean and Disney are two of the lines visiting St. Croix starting this year. We will have about 50 calls on the island this season.

 

Let me explain the real reason behind the cruise lines decision to pull out of St. Croix. They were giving the USVI government a "slap on the wrist". The USVI government at one point was going to raise port fees on all three islands. Carnival had an agreement with the government that if they would not raise the docking fees that the cruise lines would bring more people to the USVI ports of St. Thomas and St. Croix. Carnival and the VI Government entered into a development partnership at the Crown Bay cruise ship pier in St. Thomas. The cruise lines committed $500 million dollars for the project. The USVI Government pulled out of the partnership at the last minute saying it would give the cruise lines too much power. They actually breached the contract. To punish the USVI government, the cruise lines involved pulled out of St. Croix. I guess it's only a coincidence that they pulled out just two weeks after the government breached the partnership! It was relatively easy for them to pull out of St. Croix, but because St. Thomas is the number one cruise destination in the world, and of course they make more money there, they could not pull out of St. Thomas. But they couldn't simply pull out of St. Croix and break their contract with the port authority; they had to have a good reason...

 

They cited twelve incidences of crime against their passengers and crew as the reason. The police chief on St. Croix said that most of these could have been avoided, and that some of them involved crew in poor, bad areas known for drugs or sex late at night, in areas where no tourist would go or even know existed. (the Carnival ship stayed in port until midnight). But only half of the incidences were actually reported to the police. You would think that they would want the local police to have records of all crimes against passengers or crew.

 

St. Croix is a wonderful port of call. Make sure to visit the island soon! A great website for St. Croix is http://www.StCroixTourism.com

[yst347]

I am so glad to here this. St. Croix is a beautiful island. Hope to be back soon. :)