CELEBRITY CRUISES GIVES ST. KITTS A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE Two Unscheduled Calls Announced For Its Luxury Ship “Solstice”
“Craig Milan, Senior V.P. for Land Operations (second from left) and Gary Bald, Senior V.P. for Safety & Security of Celebrity Cruises stand with St. Kitts & Nevis Minister of Tourism & International Transport, Ricky Skerritt (extreme right), and St. Kitts Tourism Authority CEO Rosecita Jeffers during their recent Miami meeting.
Basseterre, St. Kitts (December 13, 2010) — “A very positive meeting” is the comment made by Minister of Tourism & International Transport, Senator Ricky Skerritt, to describe the visit by himself and Tourism Authority CEO, Rosecita Jeffers, to the Port of Miami offices of Royal Caribbean International & Celebrity Cruises last Friday. Senator Skerritt said the face-to-face meeting with top Celebrity officials enabled him to apologise in person on behalf of the Government and citizens of St Kitts & Nevis for the unprecedented November 14 robbery of a tour bus carrying passengers from the Celebrity Mercury. The Tourism Minister also took the opportunity to discuss measures being taken locally to strengthen cruise passenger safety and security, and to minimise the risk of a similar incident recurring. Celebrity’s Head of Security, Gary Bald, also confirmed that, since the incident, security officials from the cruise line were in ongoing contact with the St. Kitts & Nevis Police High Command on matters related to the police investigation. During the meeting, the good news was also revealed by Federico Gonzalez-Denton, RCI/Celebrity’s Director for Government Relations, that the Celebrity Solstice will make two unscheduled calls to St Kitts on February 2 and March 3 next year. According to Skerritt, the addition of these two calls is a clear vote of confidence in the viability of St. Kitts as a port-of-call for Celebrity Cruises. Five other Celebrity ships are already making 47 scheduled calls to St Kitts, but this season’s schedule did not previously include calls from the ‘Solstice’.Located in the northern Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, St. Kitts offers a diverse tourism product developed from the destination’s natural beauty, cultural heritage and rich history. The island’s stunning variety of tourism attractions include hiking through the tropical rainforest, riding the scenic railway that connects the island’s sugar plantations, visiting the Caribelle Batik factory, touring Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, the only man-made UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Eastern Caribbean, and the more traditional vacation pastimes such as watersports, golf, shopping, tennis, gourmet dining, gaming at one of St. Kitts’ two casinos or simply relaxing on one of the island’s sandy beaches. Guests can select from accommodations ranging from intimate plantation inns to larger hotels or resorts.
For more information about St. Kitts, please contact the St. Kitts Tourism Authority toll free from the US at 1-800-582-6208 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-582-6208 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or from Canada 1-888-395-4887 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-395-4887 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, e-mail info@stkittstourism.kn, visit www.stkittstourism.kn, or connect on Facebook, Twitter and/or YouTube.