Royal Caribbean adds 15 more port stops to St. Maarten in 2020

Royal Caribbean announced it will add 15 visits to St. Maarten in 2020, which will bring as many as 68,000 additional guests to the island.

The new visits will begin in May 2020 and run through December 2020 and take place on Freedom of the Seas.

“With many of our first-time visitors, the cruise experience to St. Maarten is the window through which they are introduced to the wonders of our island with its dynamic Dutch/French Caribbean culture, its idyllic beaches and engaging tour options,” said Lawrence. “Since Hurricane Irma, we have made tremendous progress with our tourism infrastructure and we welcome Royal Caribbean’s renewed focus and commitment to increase the number of visits to our port. With the thousands of additional Royal Caribbean guests now projected to visit, the potential is there for them to become St. Maarten’s greatest vacation champions.”

“In order to grow our partnership, we are taking the proactive step of enhancing our Eastern Caribbean itineraries by replacing a day at sea and adding a coveted visit to St. Maarten,” said Vice President of Port Development, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Joshua Carroll. “It’s part of our culture at Royal Caribbean to focus on continuous improvement and this extends to our relationships with destination partners. It makes perfect sense for us to embrace the win-win opportunities with the additional port calls by Freedom of the Seas that brings not only economic benefit to a great partner like Port St. Maarten, but also offer our guests an amazing travel destination.”

Traditionally, the St. Maarten vacation destination experiences its peak in visitor arrivals between December and March. Between May and December, there is a reduction in those visitor arrival numbers that impact the island’s tourism-based economy.