Although the arrival Wednesday of the world's largest cruise ship caused much excitement in the islands and within the cruise industry, Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas very nearly bypassed St. Thomas altogether.
Royal Caribbean International executives huddled with officials of the West Indian Co. Ltd. to determine whether the ongoing $1.5 million harbor dredging project would be completed in time for the ship's 7 a.m. arrival. The ship's 29-foot draft required additional clearance at the bottom of the harbor for it to safely enter the channel, navigate toward the turning basin and reverse into position on the western end of the WICO dock.
WICO had completed its task of encapsulating the dock and widening a pedestrian traffic area to expedite passenger movement on and off the ship. But the dredging project, at the direction of the V.I. Port Authority, fell behind schedule and at times threatened to force Royal Caribbean to take the Explorer of the Seas to St. Maarten.
According to industry sources, Royal Caribbean decided late Tuesday to have the ship call on St. Thomas as scheduled after it was learned that WICO called on its own contractor, Meisner Marine, to aid in the dredging project. One source said Wednesday that it came down to a last-minute decision to have the ship call on St. Thomas.
Because of the ship's size and the touchy issue of the harbor readiness, ship Master Ovar Nysetter said Wednesday, "I brought her in slowly at around two or four knots and everything was okay." Another source said the contractors continued to dredge almost until sunrise.
WICO President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Thomas declined to comment on the dredging project or on his contractor assuming work on the harbor to accommodate the RCI ship.
The Port Authority project to deepen sections of the harbor to accommodate megaships was slated to start in August but was delayed until the middle of October. Public concerns were raised prior to the start of the dredging as to where the "spoils"—materials dredged up from the sea floor—would be disposed of.
The Explorer of the Sea" with its 3,800 passengers and almost 1,220 crew members sailed into the harbor around 7 a.m. as part of the inaugural voyage which began in Miami Saturday with stops Monday in Labadee and Tuesday in San Juan.
A host of government officials participated in a late morning plaque ceremony welcoming the vessel and its crew to Charlotte Amalie. Among the participants: Thomas, Nysetter, Assistant Tourism Commissioner Monique Sibilly-Hodge, Thomas, V.I. Taxi Association President Eustace Grant and Immigration and Naturalization Service Special Agent Ron Parra. A Virgin Islands flag, a bottle of Cruzan Rum and a plaque commemorating the inaugural call were among the gifts presented to Nysetter.
The dock extension, Thomas said in his remarks, was designed by the Gee & Jenson company and constructed by Meisner Marine, who also did the encapsulation work on the dock at a cost of $6 million.
The arrival of the Explorer of the Seas created excitement on St. Thomas Wednesday and relief to those who have been planning for two years how to handle the world's largest passenger load. Thomas said more than 7,900 persons were moved off the WICO dock around 9 a.m. with little hassle. There is a "need to fine-tune some areas but they will be taken care of by next Wednesday when the ship returns," he said.
The Explorer of the Seas will call on St. Thomas weekly.
