How COVID-19 Will Change Caribbean Cruising

Land-based tourism has already returned to several Caribbean countries in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Yet it remains anyone’s guess as to how long cruise ships will remain offshore, separated from their top deployment region.

One thing is certain – things will be different. Every aspect of a traditional Caribbean port call will be re-imagined in the coronavirus era.

There’s been plenty of concern expressed about shipboard activity of course but what about exploring off the ship? On visits to Caribbean ports like Fort de France, Martinique or San Juan, Puerto Rico, it’s possible to walk down the gangway directly into these cities’ fascinating and historic downtown districts.
In Fort de France, a brief walk from the cruise pier takes cruise travelers to places like the Scheoler Library, where visitors can marvel at the magnificent architecture, or Carli’s Fine Bistro and Piano in San Juan, where they can sample a classic mojito stirred and shaken by master bartender Fausto Molina himself.

At least until recently, it was possible to walk from the cruise pier in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands to Government House, where visitors would view a handful of paintings by Impressionist master and Virgin Islands native Camille Pissaro. They can still visit his family’s home and studio at 14 Main Street, steps away from Government House.

It’s hard to imagine guests disembarking ships the same manner these days. The U.S. Virgin Islands in fact is among the Caribbean destinations that closed its borders to visitors this summer after coronavirus spikes occurred during an earlier reopening. As sailings resume Caribbean destinations will clearly need to control the movements of (in some countries) thousands of daily shipboard visitors.

Will destinations will establish the “resilient corridors,” like the system for land-based tourists adopted in Jamaica? Or, will shore excursions be escorted as aboard MSC Cruises in Europe? The answers will provide the model for present-day Caribbean cruising.
For example, in ports like Amber Cove in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and the Turks & Caicos’ Grand Turk cruise port, visitors largely rely on taxis or shore excursions for local exploration. Yet both ports offer on-site beaches, shops, restaurants and activities. Will cruise passengers will initially be restricted to the adjacent port developments when sailings to these destinations resume?

And while no major cruise lone official has said it outright, some have suggested that the first post-pandemic voyages will focus on The Bahamas, where several operators have private island developments.

Exclusive to those companies’ ships (as at Amber Cove and Grand Turk), these cloistered ports-of-call theoretically would enable operators to create cruise itineraries that would prevent guest contact with significant local populations. Ironically, although The Bahamas shares the Caribbean’s culture and traditions, (and is a member of the Caribbean Tourism Organization), it’s technically not in the Caribbean.

For the wider region, the question is not only when the CDC will allow cruise operations to resume, but what cruise port protocols will be established to protect local populations, cruise passengers and crew members, and how these new guidelines impact the guest experience.