Busy schedule ahead for Falmouth pier
Published:Friday | February 25, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Ruddy Mathison, Gleaner Writer
THE NEW cruiseship port in Falmouth is designed to be the home port for a number of cruise ships that are scheduled to call at the facility.
Port Authority of Jamaica vice-president for cruise shipping and marine operations, William Tatham, told The Gleaner on Wednesday that the port was designed to facilitate passenger exchange, as well as the provisioning and bunkering of ships.
Tatham said the cruise ship, Thompson Dream, that accommodates more than 2,000 passengers, will call at the Falmouth port on March 23 and will be in Jamaica for two days, sharing dates with Montego Bay and Falmouth. He said a passenger exchange will take place on that day, whereby a number of passengers will disembark and taken to land-based resort destinations, while some will board the vessel and journey to other ports in the Caribbean. Holland American Cruise Lines is also booked to be in Falmouth on the same day.
The vice-president, who was on hand to welcome passengers disembarking Freedom of the Seas, the second cruise ship to call at the Falmouth port with 4,116 passengers and 1,427 crew members said, "the focus of the business is for the winter season which is the busiest period."
He said, "The Pullmantur cruises - a Spanish cruise line belonging to Royal Caribbean - will be docking at the port later this year. Tatham disclosed that different ships will be calling for the rest of the season and bookings for the next three years have already been secured.
Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, he said, would not suffer any fallout because those ports will also have busy schedules.
Royal Caribbean, one of the world's largest cruise lines, partnered with the Jamaican Government in building the multi-faceted pier.