Cruise line pledges millions of passengers for Falmouth
Published:Wednesday | March 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) has promised to flood the historic town of Falmouth with eight million cruise ship passengers over the next 10 years.
In fact, every week going forward to at least 2013, an Oasis-class vessel will dock at the Falmouth Pier. Royal Caribbean is also bringing in a lot of additional tonnage. Their Spanish cruise brand, The Horizon begins calling next week.
On Tuesday, 85 per cent of the 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew members on the world's largest cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas, disembarked on the 18th century commercial capital, while government and cruise officials cut the ribbon officially declaring the historic Falmouth Pier open.
Addressing the audience, RCCL's chairman, Richard Fain spoke glowingly of the economic impact the pier's development had injected into what was once a sleepy fishing village.
"Some 500 locals were involved in the construction and when this port is complete, 300 workers will be employed in operations," said Fain as he lauded the Jamaican Government and its agencies for delivering the 'wow' factor that Royal Caribbean had become accustomed to.
Superb location
According to Fain, when his organisation was selecting Falmouth, the decision was made based on the unique characteristics of the historic town.
"The location was superb, offering our guests all of what Jamaica has to offer, if you go east or west," he said.
He described the project as a rare opportunity to be developed in a place with such historical importance.
His comments were complemented by Prime Minister Bruce Golding who admitted that in the early stages of the project, he felt it was doomed because there was not enough money to support it.
"But RCCL demonstrated it was committed to sail into Falmouth and never wavered in its decision, even when others backtracked because of the recession," said Golding.
Declaring a new day in the historic town, he said the Port Authority of Jamaica had built the port which is expected to be completed by June, but the work was not yet done.
"We have some serious challenges that we have to undertake. There is a certain level of investment that's going to have to be made in Falmouth to provide the sewage capacity, because with what has happened now, we expect that Falmouth is going to start to come under stress. There are people who are going to want to take Vision 2030 and decide that Falmouth, not Jamaica, is the place to work, live, raise families and do business."