Caribbean Times 57th Issue - Thursday 15th December 2016

4 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Thursday 15th December 2016
Ten cruise ship calls for Barbuda
By Joanna Paris
A new building is being
constructed at the Nevis
Street Pier to enable the
embarkation and disembarkation
of the Zenith, which
will allow passengers to
board the vessel in Antigua
on December 26th.
The Zenith is part of the
Pullmantur Cruise line and
will be the first ship in the
country’s history to make
While most people are
winding down the year 2016
partaking in the festivities of
the Christmas season, some
staff at the Medical Benefits
Scheme (MBS) have been
reviving their commitment
to being active and eating
healthily. In October 2016,
20 staff members took up
a challenge to walk 10,000
steps daily for the entire
month.
That group recorded 2.7
million steps in the allotted
time frame with the top
walker Louise Charles completing
446,801 steps, followed
by Karen Tannis with
418,398. The statistics were
By Renio Abbott
Barbuda has received two cruise ship
calls thus far for 2016 and is expecting
to have a total of ten for the 2016 – 2017
cruise industry in the upcoming year.
Nathan Dundas, Chairman of the
Antigua & Barbuda Cruise Tourism
Association stated that “Barbuda is doing
rather well and has received a few
calls from Windstar Cruises, Club Med
Cruises and Ponant Cruises.
However, Barbuda have been receiving
calls for several years and continues
to because the response is rather
remarkable”.
Dundas further stated that “we’re
this procedure possible.
It will give Antiguans and
Barbudans an opportunity to
enjoy a cost effective cruise,
since there will be no air fare
and visa requirements associated
with travel.
In an interview with
media representatives on
Wednesday, the President
of the Antigua and Barbuda
Cruise Tourism Association,
Nathan Dundas, said
collected and compiled by
staffer and epidemiologist
Andre Bovell.
In November, as well as
during this month, December,
some staff have taken
on a twice weekly skipping
challenge and some have
continued to walk daily. The
Medical Benefits Scheme
has a staff lunch time walking
club, where members
complete a one hour power
walk on the fringes of city.
keeping the twin Island state away from
the big ships, they have enough vessels
for this time and because of its limited
infrastructure, we want to make sure
that Barbuda is ready and prepared for
years to come, and the visitors get the
best experience possible in our sister island
of Barbuda”.
Tourism stakeholders prepare for Zenith Cruise
MBS staff complete challenge
that several key tourism
stakeholders to include the
Ministry of Tourism, the St.
John’s Development Corporation
and the Customs and
Immigration Department are
currently making all the necessary
preparations for the
embarkation and disembarkation
of passengers.
“The building is being set
up and it will accommodate
both the customs and immigration
officials who will
be situated just outside the
security booth at the Nevis
Street Dock”, he said.
Dundas explained that
the response to the offer has
been overwhelming, with
the vessel being booked up
until March 2017. He said
that a lot of groups and families
are taking advantage of
the opportunity.
“The first set of Antiguans
will board the vessel
on December 26th and on
that first day over 30 cabins
have been booked by Antiguans”,
he said.
The Zenith will make
provisions for a 7-day cruise
before it returns to its home
port in Philipsburg. In the
itinerary between Barbados
and Santo Domingo the vessel
spends a day at sea.
The Zenith was built
in 1992. The vessel is 208
meters high and 29 meters
long, weighing 46.8 tons. It
has 721 cabins and carries,
with full double occupation,
a maximum of 1,442 passengers.
The vessel has 620
crew members, giving it a
premium passenger crew ration
of 2:1.