Carnival promises Jamaican ports over 1.2m visitors

(Gleaner): Carnival Cruise Lines has reached an agreement with the Jamaican government guaranteeing Montego Bay and Ocho Rios at least 1.2 million visitors over 3 years. The agreement will ensure both ports maintain current levels of cruise arrivals, despite the competition from the new Falmouth cruise ship pier. Carnival has also agreed that if it fails to deliver the 1.2 million visitors, it will pay the difference between the actual numbers and the guaranteed figure, said transport minister Mike Henry, Tuesday.  "This development means that Ocho Rios and Montego Bay will continue to see the same volume of visitors ..and everyone can now plan in relation to the arrival of cruise ships from Carnival to these ports," said Henry.

In its first three months of operation, February to April, the Falmouth pier is said to have received close to 150,000 passengers and crew, and surpassed Ocho Rios as Jamaica's main cruise ship port. Royal Caribbean, a financial partner with the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) in the Falmouth port, has said it will bring in as many as eight million visitors to the historic coastal town over a decade.

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