FLORIDA, USA — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says the StarShip Cruise Line’s M/C Caribbean Galaxy, which targets the Millennial tourists, will make its inaugural call to Jamaica in December.

Bartlett made the disclosure shortly after meeting with StarShip Cruise managing director Marc Baron on the fringes of the 18th Annual Shared Ownership Investment Conference at the Eden Roc Miami Beach Resort in Florida on Wednesday.

“Today [Wednesday] we had discussions with Marc Baron and his team from StarShip Cruise, which is a Millennial-experience focusing on education, music and culture and philanthropy. The cruise is projected to begin at the end of December and will have cruises throughout the winter tourist season, ending in April of 2017,” Bartlett told OBSERVER ONLINE.

The vessel, which will bring a total of 1,658 passengers weekly, is expected to make calls at the ports of Montego Bay, Port Antonio and Kingston.

Bartlett said the visit will provide a major boost for Jamaica’s growing cruise-ship sector, which is still celebrating a 13.6 per cent growth for the 2015/16 winter season.

“This is a very important development for a new type of cruise tourism in Jamaica that is going to mix both cruise and stopover passengers, as well as providing music and cultural experiences and philanthropic engagements,” said an upbeat tourism minister.

Mark Cummings