Royal Caribbean cruise line to return after 20 years

TOURISM Minister Randall Mitchell has said that Royal Caribbean International's Rhapsody of the Seas will bring thousands of tourists to Trinidad and Tobago on November 21. It will be the cruise line's first official visit in 20 years.

Mitchell was speaking at a press conference at the Brix Hotel in Cascade on Wednesday morning.

He said the ministry had been "working diligently to get Royal Caribbean to (officially) return."

During the height of the covid19 pandemic, the cruise line came here strictly to drop off its TT workers who wished to return home.

Around 2,000 people from TT were employed by the cruise line in June following a local recruitment exercise.

Mitchell also said the cruise line MSC Cruises will arrive on November 30.

While he said he did not have the exact number of tourists each cruise line would bring, he said MSC Cruises may bring around 3,500-4,000 and the Rhapsody of the Seas, 2,500-3,000.

"We look forward to welcoming the cruise lines.

"We have a very decent cruise season. Cruise season, of course, starts November 1 all the way up until (the) end of March. So we look forward to a very good cruise season."

He said the Ministry of Health will also be involved as it relates to "new ways in which the cruise ships deal with illness on board."