Two Royal Caribbean cruise ships have been approved by the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis to arrive on August 19th and safely dock at the Caribbean port.
Royal Caribbean reached out to the Caribbean nation about having Vision of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas arrive and dock with 70 crew members each. Both cruise ships will now arrive on August 19, 2020 to start a two week quarantine period.
According to the Minister of Tourism, each crew member will be given an RT-PCR test upon arrival and quarantine for 14 days on their cruise ships. When all crew members receive a negative test at the end of their quarantine, they will be allowed to disembark while observing social distancing and mask-wearing safety measures. There are currently zero active cases of COVID-19 on the island.
“The health and the safety of our citizens, residents, and of our visitors remains our number one priority. We have taken all the necessary health and safety protocols to ensure that St Kitts and Nevis remains safe.” Minister Grant noted. “This assistance represents the true nature of our people to support others in a time of need,” he added.
The Minister said that he did not doubt that citizens would be welcoming to the crew. He also said that this initiative would benefit many businesses because those on board would be using local amenities.
Port Zante, financed partly by the country’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme, allows the twin-island to host up to three of the largest ships in the world.
The islands welcomed an astonishing 1 million cruise passengers for two consecutive years. The small but ambitious Caribbean country now holds the marquee status of larger cruise destinations in the region.
