Bermuda To Welcome Largest Ever Cruise Ship

April 29, 2016

Bermuda is preparing to receive its largest ever cruise ship visitor, the Quantum Class MS Anthem of the Seas – a Royal Caribbean International mega ship – with nearly 4500 cruise visitors, the Transport Ministry said today.

“The RCI ship – just a year after its maiden voyage – is due at Heritage Wharf at the Royal Naval Dockyard on the morning of Monday May 2nd,” the Ministry said.

“It was last year dubbed by industry critics as “the world’s smartest cruise ship” and “one of the most technologically advanced cruise ships in the world.”

“The 168,666 GRT new-build emerged last April from Meyer Werft, the family-owned company that has been building ships in Papenburg, Germany for more than 200 years.

“Accommodating the mega ship for a Dockyard berth – the vessel is 136 feet wide and 1,141 feet long with a draft of 28 feet – necessitated the arrival of specialized equipment for the recent dredging and widening of the North Channel between St. George’s and Dockyard.

“With an international crew of nearly 1,600, the ship has a total of 16 public decks, and 18 decks in total.

“Anthem of the Seas is scheduled in the 2016 cruise ship season for 21 calls from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, replacing the Liberty of the Seas.

“With the Inaugural visit to the island, the ship will be greeted by a senior Government delegation including the Acting Premier and Cabinet Ministers. City and town Mayors will also be a part of the welcome delegation.

“They will all attend a ceremony and Plaque Presentation on board the ship, prior to a special celebratory luncheon and a tour of the vessel.

“Anthem of the Seas is the second ship of the Quantum class, which surpasses the earlier Freedom-class ships by over 14,000 GT, becoming the second largest class of passenger ships behind RCI’s Oasis class ships on a gross tonnage basis.

“Anthem of the Seas was delivered to Royal Caribbean on April 10, 2015, and christened on April 20, 2015 before embarking from Southampton, England on its maiden voyage – an eight-night cruise to France and Spain on April 22 last year.”

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  1. Daniel says:

    The cruise ship industry is essentially bullying the islands into dredging their natural harbours and even destroying reefs to allow their ridiculously oversize cuise ships to come into port. Cruise ships companies know the islands need the port revenue and tourist dollar and can bully them into making way for these leviathans at the expense of their fragile reef system. “If you don’t like it we can go somewhere else” is their message. There is nothing glamorous about packing thousands of unwitting vacationers onto one of their floating tin cans, and cruise ships should NOT be the basis of our tourism industry and we should never back down to them at the expense of our natural environment. Bermuda should always remember that cruise ships are a necessary evil, and one that must be kept in check.

    • Terry says:

      True.
      Well stated and short.
      And they don’t spend money in Port/s

      Never been on a cruise and don’t wish to.
      Too many cheepies and drunks

      • ?? says:

        I’ve been on a cruise and enjoyed it immensely. Did not experience drunkards or whatever you described in your opinion. I’m going on a Mediterranean cruise next year and looking forward to it

    • Ambassador says:

      Considering the cruise ship industry puts money in my pocket and many, many more in Dockyard and on this island, I wouldn’t complain. Dredging the channel to accommodate a ship that holds perhaps over a thousand more passengers than the previous one doesn’t sound that bad in my eyes.. Just saying.

  2. outkasted says:

    Tenders are the answer. Dock offshore and keep em’ busy with Tenders.

    • frank says:

      maybe you have not been on a cruise people like to be at the dock

      • outkasted says:

        You see that is why you have a thing called a schedule. The Airline and rapid transit have been using them for years. You can stagger your Tender pick up and drop off times. Color co-ordinate you tickets and passes that quickly identify individuals and apps that send notifications that their tender is ready to be boarded. The Cayman islands don’t have large piers for all the ships that come into port but they have an entire industry of shipping/transport tenders that service everyone from Monday to Friday. No ships on weekend then they get a break to spend time with family etc… Monday comes it all starts again. Jobs for everyone. You don’t see them ripping their coastline apart to accommodate every ship. Its not necessary.

  3. 432USA says:

    I’ll be on this cruise and though I’m excited to visit Bermuda, I’m disappointed that they had to dredge the sea floor to accommodate our arrival, ecosystems should not be messed with, especially ones as fragile as Bermuda’s.

  4. Raymond Ray says:

    I totally agree with all you’ve mentioned “Daniel” but you forgot to mention one other major problem which is, the public transportation :-(
    There is presently a shortage of taxis and government buses so how the hell are they to deal with that is the “$64000:00″ dollar question?

    • Its me again says:

      Government owned and operated mini bus “reserve”. Hire a mixture of young unemployed adults and experienced seniors on temp contracts to act as mininbus/taxi/sightseeing teams. 30,000 per mini bus, purchase 5, hopefully thr initiative can pay off in a few summers with a profit to be generated afterwards to go directly into debt servicing.

      • Raymond Ray says:

        @ Its me again: That would / could be and alternative.

      • Zevon says:

        Maybe the BIU could use some of the millions collected from its members to set up that business. Show us how its done.

  5. TRAWE NWORB says:

    When Bermuda sold out to the CRUISE LINES under a PLP Premier & Tourism Minister, he sold out Bermudians and Bermudian owned businesses.
    All the CRUISE SHIPS coming into Bermuda were granted the right to offer all their shows, bands, DJ’s etc in port.

    It was always the policy of Bermuda to require ALL cruise ships to stop the shows and entertainment in port.
    The reversal of this policy by Ewart Brown KILLED nightlife in Bermuda.

    Once Bermuda went the route of MEGA SHIPS and pushed all the cruises to Dockyard – Hamilton became a ghost town. The Cruise Ships now have casinos open in port. So the Cruise Ships have all the marbles. The few bars in dockyard get a trickle of bar business at night.
    BOTTOM LINE: Bermuda sold out.

    • Its me again says:

      Really. We had to get political

    • drunken ursula says:

      yes and this OBA gov’t continues doing the same…change my a$$

    • Ambassador says:

      Correction, they do not run their casinos in port. It’s not allowed.

  6. thief says:

    This ship is fantastic! great news!

  7. bda441 says:

    Maybe we should start aiming to boost our tourism back to airline arrivals? Cruiseships take all the money. None of those visitors will be eating in Bermudian restaurants, going to Bermudian night clubs and shopping in Bermudian stores. I mean why would they when they could stay on the ship? The only people who will benefit from this is the cruiseline, a few tourist attractions and a lucky tender.

    Work some sort of agreement out with airlines to lower prices, have holiday packages and so forth. Encourage another airline to fly from the UK to de-monopolize the market from BA. Tourists who fly in have the potential to boost our economy at the local level so much greater than cruiseship visitors. But hey, why the heck would I spend $1,500 to fly to Bermuda when I can get a 2 week all inclusive holiday package for the exact same price in Spain?

    P.s. Our ecosystem is worth a whole lot more than a few thousand cruiseship visitors. Cruiseships have a reputation for taking advantage of “developing” countries, something we are not, so why the heck are we going backwards and not forwards?

  8. Average Bermudian says:

    This is the same pier at dockyard that is always in dispute that it is a waste of $ – and is one of the reasons that bda is in debt (and built by the current opposition)

    FOOLS

    • frank says:

      if there was no pier these ships would not come okay

      • outkasted says:

        our neighbors to the south don’t have piers for some of the biggest ships. they use tenders to move people. Not all 4000 peeps get of the ship at once or return to the ship at once. Scheduled/ staggered comings and goings from the ship.

  9. BdaCandle says:

    Another area of concern would be the ferry issue…or lack of operating ferries. A couple of weeks ago, our tourists were once again disappointed with the poor ferry service.

    • outkasted says:

      Sure we are all waiting for the big contingent of Americas Cup but we still needs to deliver services NOW!

  10. St D says:

    Like or not the cruise ships are essential to Bermuda’s survival. Low spending per passenger but high volumes spread dollars throughout Bermuda’s economy. Not everyone can or wants to work in international business and the hospitality industry that cruise passengers support keeps Bermudians employed and our business visitors amused.

    The cruise ships are part of the foundation on which we can build and diversify our country.

  11. Ms. Poli Tician says:

    I am not sure why such a small island cannot get its transportation system sorted out. Downright embarrassment. BTA, Government, WEDCO and Unions should hang their heads in shame.

    • Ed says:

      Narrow minded bermudians who are unwilling to try anything new or special.

  12. Shernette Wolffe says:

    Suggestion – Tourism officials should examine how other islands to the south transport thousands of cruise ship tourists from their ports to the city. Eg my husband and I were truly amazed at the water taxi service in St. Martin. There were at least 4 mega cruise ships in port and we were awestruck that we were transported to the main town within 20 mins of our arrival. Organization was superb and professional! We can always learn from each other. The Anthem of the Seas is huge. We have been on the sister ship the “Oasis”. I trust everything will go smoothly!

    • Raymond Ray says:

      Now that’s food for thought…

    • outkasted says:

      its simple people! Use Tenders.
      We need a robust shipping industry. It will definitely supply enough jobs.

  13. james says:

    Most of them get off the ship, line up for busses, go to Horseshoe and back to the ship. If they do go into a shop they want to haggle over the prices.
    1 real tourist via airline is worth a 100 cruise ship tourists.

  14. Garrus says:

    The season has begun yet Waco still hasn’t put rooftops on the shelters at Heritage wharf! Not a good look! Where will these thousands take shelter if it rains? SMH

    • Garrus says:

      Whoops, WEDCO not Waco–well maybe…