Feb. 16, 2008 — For a third straight year, St. Thomas topped the list of most popular Caribbean cruise destinations in the 2008 Cruise Holidays Travel Trends Survey.
"We're not surprised," said Ed Thomas, CEO of West Indian Co. Ltd. "We think we're going to maintain that status."
Thomas said the island's shopping and shore excursions for cruise visitors were above the rest.
"We think that we continue to provide some of the best tours in the Caribbean," he said.
Regionally, the weak dollar could actually work in the Caribbean's favor, Thomas said. European visitors' money goes further here, and Americans will be leery of the going to Europe because of the high conversion rate to the comparatively strong euro.
St. Thomas took 40.5 percent of votes. Grand Cayman was second a third year in a row with 15 percent of votes. St. Maarten moved up a spot after finishing fourth in 2007, getting 12.6 percent of the vote this year. Cozumel, Mexico dropped to fourth place after ranking third in 2006 and 2007, taking 7 percent. Aruba and Jamaica were also on the list.
St. Petersburg was voted the best cruise destination in northern Europe, and Rome the best cruise destination in the Mediterranean.
Some 107 travel agencies across the U.S. and Canada listed their customers' favorite ports of call in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and non-Med European ports in the survey released Monday. The voting travel agents worked for Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Cruise Holidays, North America's largest cruise-specialty retailer.
The survey, which reflected customer satisfaction, made no mention of St. Croix – which will receive visits from Disney this year – and St. John – where only a few smaller cruise lines visit.
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