peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
Island Sea Fest officially announced a cruise geared specifically towards Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival in 2023. The partnership with the Royal Caribbean International, which was announced on July 19, will be for an 11-night cruise, five of which it will be docked in Port-of-Spain at the height of Carnival activity.
The cruise’s itinerary would see the passengers depart San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday February 15, 2023 and arrive in Trinidad on Carnival Thursday February 16. From there patrons will partake in the festivities of Carnival for the next five nights in Trinidad serving as a floating hotel in the harbour.
After leaving Trinidad at midnight on Carnival Tuesday the cruise is set for stops in Tobago, Barbados, and St Lucia before returning to San Juan (Sunday, February 26, 2023).
Spokesperson for the cruise Roger McGregor told Guardian that the idea for the cruise had been formed more than seven years ago, but it ultimately did not get the go ahead until December last year when international security officials for the cruise lines finally granted clearance.
“I first thought about this in 2014 as I was doing another themed cruise and I really wanted it to represent the Caribbean and the culture in which I’m from and all of my ancestors. And I needed it to be around an iconic event and the first thing that came to my mind was Trinidad Carnival. The largest Carnival in the world,”
McGregor said he took his idea to the Tourism Development Company back then and continued liaising the Ministry of Culture since, including incumbent Minister of Tourism Randall Mitchell about potentially creating a hotel on the seas for the festival.
Minister Mitchell confirmed to Guardian Media that he had been in contact with the organisers.
McGregor said the decision to hold the first cruise in 2023, was due to the intense planning required for the event and not because he was unsure there would be a Carnival in 2022.
“To do a themed cruise, it’s 16 months of planning. So, it’s not something that you can do in two months or three months or four months anyway. So if I look at 16 months from December (2020), that’s already taking me toward the end of 2022, to which it would have passed Carnival in 2022,” he said.
The announcement of the cruise, however, was guided by the pandemic, as McGregor had to be sure cruise lines had resumed activity safely before launching.
He said the cruise would be a boost as it not only provided additional accommodation for visitors, but also an alternative measure in terms of transport to come to the event at perhaps a lower price than usually seen at the height of the season.
The cruise features an all-inclusive onboard pricing structure which includes: base cruise fare, taxes, fees, gratuities, beverages, meals, onboard parties, WIFI, and basic travel insurance.