The Norwegian Cruise Lines ship Norway is cutting back on calls to St. Thomas after April 8 and leaving the Caribbean altogether in September, according to the West Indian Co. Ltd. The move will mean 2,550 fewer passengers arriving on St. Thomas at a time when the agreement hammered out by the Cruise Ship Task Force last year with the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association calls for an increase in passengers by 10 percent each year, starting in summer 2001.
The Omnibus Bill now awaiting Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's signature includes a provision authorizing the governor to negotiate with the FCCA on the agreement, according to Sen. Lorraine Berry, a member of the task force.
WICO spokesman Calvin Wheatley said he didn't know how the discontinuance of the Norway's calls on St. Thomas starting in September would affect the agreement. Nor could he say how the loss of passengers would be made up.
"We know there will be new vessels coming online after October," he said. "We will know more after the Sea Trade Convention."
The convention will take place March 3 to March 5 in Miami. Wheatley said that's when WICO gets to meet one-on-one with the cruise lines.
The company announced Thursday that the Norway will begin operating on a split schedule after its April 8 call on St. Thomas, alternating seven-day cruises between ports in the Eastern and Western Caribbean.
"In September, however, the Norway will discontinue its Caribbean itinerary and will be deployed to Asia for service in the STAR fleet," according to Wheatley.
WICO president Edward Thomas said the Thursday call of the Norway "will provide for a better distribution of arrivals which is something we have been working towards." The Source first reported on Wednesday that the mega-ship Explorer of the Seas will begin calling on St. Thomas on Tuesdays instead of Wednesday in April to ease congestion at the WICO dock when three other mega-ships are in port.
Thomas said the change in port calls for the Explorer will "enable WICO to berth Disney Magic at the dock weekly instead of having it anchor in the inner harbor on alternate weeks." Thomas explained that another benefit is that there will be fewer passengers, particularly children, having to cross the waterfront highway.
Passenger arrivals on St. Thomas and St. John during the calendar year 2000 totaled 1,719,827, Thomas said Thursday. "This is the largest number of cruise passengers to call here during any year," he said.
