Crystal Cruises is preparing to remove Harbour Island as a destination on its seven-night all-Bahamas cruise and hopes to now call on Spanish Wells, the company told Guardian Business in a statement yesterday.
This paper learned of the possible change to the itinerary after seeing a request for proposals (RFP) letter that was sent to Spanish Wells businesses.
The letter, which begins with “dear tour operators”, goes on to explain that the cruise line will soon announce that it plans to drop Harbour Island from its itinerary in favor of Spanish Wells.
“We are planning to announce a change in the itinerary from Harbour Island to Spanish Wells, where our ship will be anchored off Egg Island every Monday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.,” the memo states.
“This is confidential until we make the announcement, so we ask for your discretion so we can be the first to notify guests of this change.”
Crystal Cruises, which will begin home porting at Nassau’s cruise port in July, added in its response to questions by Guardian Business: “We are currently reviewing whether to add Spanish Wells to our itinerary and potentially remove Harbour Island.
“In advance of this potential change, we are reaching out to local businesses in Spanish Wells and are excited to receive proposals for those who would like an opportunity to work with us and provide services to our guests.”
After the news of Crystal’s planned move to Spanish Wells spread, there was immediate opposition to the decision, just as there was opposition to the cruise line’s initial decision to call on Harbour Island.
A post on the Facebook page Eleuthera Forum expressed this very sentiment, saying: “Cruise ship anchoring at Egg Island. Not good! It’s going to destroy our reefs and our beaches and our ocean.
“It’s not good for our island. We cannot handle 200 to 500 people coming to Spanish Wells per day. They have tried Harbour Island and failed. Harbour Island said no. Now they are trying Spanish Wells. There’s no infrastructure to support this amount of people coming ashore here… say no to Crystal Cruises.”
Harbour Island’s Chief Councilor Terrance Davis told Guardian Business that he only found out yesterday that Crystal planned not to call on Harbour island, adding that the island was torn on whether or not it wanted the business from the cruise line.
“I saw a write-up in the newspaper from one of the hoteliers stating that they weren’t interested in that type of tourism, but I don’t know if that would have been the thoughts of the local residents,” said Davis.
“Once they (Crystal Cruises) would have seen or heard of the objections, because it would have been on social media, I guess they may have been discouraged.”
Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar told this paper yesterday that logistics and mooring issues, coupled with the objection from some Harbour Island residents to the cruise call, were the genesis of Crystal’s decision to switch to Spanish Wells.
Davis contends that many Harbour Island residents would have wanted to have the business from the cruise line, but explained that Harbour Island’s society is “varied” in its opinions of what’s best for the island.
Crystal noted in its statement that its partnership with the Ministry of Tourism has already “jump-started economic growth in The Bahamas”, as the company has “partnered with almost 30 local businesses for these voyages”.
“During the last few weeks, we have met with local leaders to discuss business opportunities and to listen to any concerns,” the company stated.
“Our focus remains providing guests with the best experience possible and ensuring greater opportunities for local businesses.”
Crystal provided a statement from D’Aguilar in which the minister hails the positive economic contribution that could be gained from Crystal Cruises’ home porting initiative in The Bahamas.
“Working with partners like Crystal Cruises brings with it considerable opportunities for positive economic growth within our economy, specifically immeasurable benefits to local business, shops, restaurants, excursions, tour operators and even hotels as guests explore pre- and post-visit stays,” D’Aguilar’s statement noted.
“On our Family Islands, the impact is expected to bring with it manageable interaction with guests and opportunities to curate memorable experiences for small, intimate groups of travelers. As always, we’ll continue to work closely with all parties to ensure that we’re delivering an unforgettable guest experience, while ensuring our local communities benefit positively.”
The post Crystal Cruises to remove Harbour Island from itinerary and add Spanish Wells appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/crystal-cruises-to-remove-harbour-island-from-itinerary-and-add-spanish-wells/
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