Earlier this week, 17,000 cruisers spent the day in San Juan, a major milestone for Puerto Rico as the island continues bounce back.
Cruise ships from Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and MSC Cruises were in port on May 16, 2018 as the island welcomed 17,000 cruise passengers. The ships included Harmony of the Seas, MSC Seaside, Carnival Magic, and Carnival Ecstasy.
From salsa dancing to traditional BatuPlena percussion bands, thousands of cruisers are seeing for themselves Puerto Rico’s progress as they made their way through the colorful streets of Old San Juan, reaffirming once again the destination’s readiness to enchant travelers for the upcoming summer season. The visit was expected to generate $1.5 million in revenue.
Puerto Rico’s cruise industry is a promising one and new vessels will arrive later in the year including Carnival Horizon next month. Symphony of the Seas and Celebrity Edge make their maiden calls in San Juan in December.
The biggest cruise ship to homeport in San Juan, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, began sailing from Puerto Rico last week. The ship will sail from San Juan for the 2018-2019 cruise season.
Freedom of the Seas is expected to have a $40 million impact for the local economy. All-in-all, for the next cruising season, Puerto Rico expects a record breaking 1.7 million passengers, which equates to approximately $250MM dollars in revenue.
And this is exactly WHY all that garbage about the US NOT doing enough after the hurricane and the bashing is a bunch of garbage. Before you haters get started, yes they needed help and yes they are a US Island. BUT this has been a HUGE tourist attraction for many years. But did you see the condition of the Island, of the housing in areas, the infrastructure and so on and so on ??!! Thats NOT OUR doing. That is the powers that govern in Puerto Rico. Obviously they have been major skimming the money, not building, repairing or taking care of things for many many years. And who suffered, the thousands of residents that live there in subpar conditions to begin with. But the Government, family and friends seemed to be doing just fine. I feel there should be a full accounting for say the last 20 years of monies in and monies spent on improvement, schools etc. And let the heads roll. This is terrible . This should have never happened the way it did.
I am born, raised and living in PR amd as much as I might agree with you to some extent I have to say that government skimming amd poor handling of the less fortunate happens all astound the US mainland. I can also attest that response was slow and lackluster and only because of the PR debacle it brought it finally got going. But having said all that. Let’s not turn this into a political forum, yes?
Please do come enjoy PR. If you can, stay a few days. PR is about so much more than Old San Juan and the historical and cultural sites. Get out of the metro area and explore. I can almost guarantee you’ll want to come back for more. Happy cruising!!!