Nearly 31,000 cruise passengers visit St. Kitts as 2026/2027 season opens – WIC News

The 2026/2027 Caribbean cruise tourism season has launched with a robust performance for St. Kitts, as official data from the St. Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) records 30,842 cruise passengers disembarking on the island in October 2026 alone, marking a nearly 31,000-person strong opening month for the high-traffic travel window. Leading the surge in arrivals was Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas, which completed two separate port calls carrying a combined 13,761 passengers, representing nearly 45% of the total October visitor volume. Additional high-profile vessel calls included two stops from Rhapsody of the Seas that brought 5,131 travellers, alongside diverse fleet visits from Seabourn Venture, Celebrity Beyond, Carnival Venezia, Carnival Dream, and Coral Princess. Wrapping the month’s arrivals on October 31 was the 258-passenger luxury all-suite motor yacht Star Pride, formerly known as Seabourn Pride, which docked at Port Zante mid-way through an 11-day round-trip voyage originating in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Following its St. Kitts stop, the vessel proceeded on its itinerary to Antigua, with subsequent scheduled calls in Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, Grenada, Jost Van Dyke, and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands before returning to its Puerto Rico departure port on November 8. The strong opening month builds on St. Kitts’ established reputation as one of the Caribbean’s most in-demand cruise destinations, which welcomed more than 950,000 total cruise passengers across the full 2025/2026 season. The island is now positioned to enter a transformative new phase of its cruise tourism economy, following a formal groundbreaking ceremony held by the St. Kitts and Nevis government on July 1, 2026, for a purpose-built new cruise terminal at Port Zante designed to support homeporting operations. P&O Cruises is set to launch its first turnaround homeport calls out of Basseterre in November 2027, a milestone that industry analysts project will drive substantial incremental local revenue by encouraging visitors to pre-book extended stays at island hotels, dine at local restaurants, use ground transport services, and patronize regional tourist attractions before and after their cruises, rather than only spending a few hours on shore during traditional port visits.