After an 18-month halt in cruise shipping since March last year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, tourism stakeholders beamed with joy yesterday as they welcomed overly relieved and excited passengers of the Carnival Sunrise cruise ship at Turtle Bay Pier in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

Some of the visitors admitted that frustration was mounting, not being able to go on cruises for so many months, but said being vaccinated was crucial to them enjoying themselves again.

A cheerful Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, who welcomed some of the guests by bumping elbows with them to avoid shaking hands, told the Jamaica Observer that, “It was a very good moment because the return of cruise means jobs, income and revenue for the Government, but more importantly, it gives the community of Ocho Rios a sense of hope that livelihood is back”.

He told journalists that by December the island should record roughly 1.7 million visitors, with cruise passengers accounting for 300,000 of the travellers. He said, too, that cruise ships will soon begin to dock in Montego Bay, St James, and Falmouth, Trelawny once again, and that the ministry was “working hard” to ensure Port Royal and Port Antonio become active as well.

“We need to bring 50,000 jobs back into activity and we are sure now, with the programme that has been outlined in terms of the frequency of calls — 16 calls from Carnival in the next two to three months.

I spoke with Michael Bayley from Royal [Caribbean Cruise Line] and that programme is coming on board. We are going to have cruise back on track by winter. By December we should have pretty much the full fleet. We could have just a little under 300,000 by December and we should have 1.3 million stopovers so we are projecting we will end the year with around 1.7 million visitors,” said Bartlett.

Thrilled that cruise shipping is back on track, Jamaican Marie McKenzie, vice-president for global ports and Caribbean government relations for Carnival Corporation, said the occasion was special to her because she knows what tourism means to Jamaica’s economy.

“I know what this means to our country to be able to have the economic activity and I know what it means for our company and our guests, more importantly,” she told the Observer. She has worked with Carnival Corporation for 26 years and has responsibility for operations in 27 countries.

McKenzie expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Tourism, the Port Authority of Jamaica and the Ministry of Health and Wellness for pressing to ensure that COVID-19 protocols were enforced.

“This is not the first port Carnival has returned to. We have been cruising out of the US, under the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So many of the requirements of your health team were very much in line with things we were already doing or other matters that they may have asked for, that other ports didn’t ask for that we were able to provide,” she said.

The Italian captain of the ship, Isidoro Renda, meanwhile, celebrated the fact that Carnival Sunrise will sail to Jamaica multiple times monthly.

On the other hand, the passengers, including Jennifer from North Alabama, basked in joy and eagerness to sail on the Caribbean Sea and visiting Jamaica.

Her husband Shane had surprised her by taking her on the cruise to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.

Another passenger, Chris Hassler, declaring that he, his wife Stacy and son Braiden were fully vaccinated, said he was excited about the reopening of cruise shipping and had wanted to be among “the first people back on”.