Just returned, Negril looking good!

[RonMon]

As with everything in JA, it is never as simple as it appears. The Jamaica Gleaner had comments from the Falmouth Mayor stating that harassment was the reason for the ships pulling out. Now the story has been somewhat retracted and pulled back.

FIRST REPORT

Yesterday, the Gleaner published an article titled Major Cruiselines Pull Out Of Falmouth Port, Financial Fallout Expected. The article is admittedly confusing. It quotes Falmouth’s mayor, Colin Gager, referring to three ships, the "Allure of the Seas," and two unnamed ships from Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. It seems that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises changed the itineraries of three cruise ships from Falmouth at sometime in the future.
It does Falmouth Jamaica Royal Caribbeannot appear that these cruise lines are pulling all of their ships from this port. The Royal Caribbean website still lists the Independence, Liberty, Oasis, Allure, and Harmony of the Seas sailing to Falmouth in 2017 and 2018 and the Adventure of the Seas calling on Falmouth in late 2018 and 2019.
The article cites three reason expressed by the Falmouth mayor for the disruption of arrivals at the port: (1) "visitor harassment," (2) the "conduct of tour bus operators," and (3) "craft vendors leaving much to be desired."
Many cruise passengers have complained about being harassed in Falmouth, as well as other ports in Jamaica such as Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, by vendors and hair-braiders over the years. There have been many discussions between Royal Caribbean and Jamaican tourism officials about the cruise visitors' complaints of harassment.



UPDATED: Trelawny Business Leaders Say Falmouth Cruise Line Harassment Concerns 'Not Surprising'


Published:Monday | July 10, 2017 | 7:06 AM

Business leaders in Trelawny say the authorities should not be surprised tourism harassment has been cited as a concern for cruise lines.

Last week, reports surfaced that the local industry was set to suffer a major blow with the pull out of three major cruise lines, largely as a result of harassment concerns.

However, in a statement yesterday, the Port Authority disputed the reports saying that apart from the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) subsidiary Celebrity Cruises, which was late in berth reservation for 2018, resulting in the available berth going to Princess Cruises, all cruise lines remain committed to Falmouth and are still scheduled to call at the port.

"Notwithstanding, RCCL has not included Falmouth calls for its new Oasis class vessel, the Symphony of the Seas and will be repositioning the Allure of the Seas, another Oasis class vessel, after April 2018. The Allure of the Seas will return to Falmouth in December 2018," the Port Authority said.

Prior to the release of the Port Authority statement, Delroy Christie, acting president of the Trelawny Chamber of Commerce, said while reports of a pull out were regrettable the harassment problem was becoming unbearable.

Mayor of Falmouth Colin Gager had said last week that the pull out of three vessels, which together bring in about 10,000 visitors per call to the port, would result in losses of about $5 million monthly.

Yesterday the Port Authority said that, although a decline in earnings was expected from the reposition of Allure of the Seas, the summer season generally records an approximately 40 per cent decline in cruise arrivals, compared to the winter season.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story suggested it was a fact that three cruise ships would be pulling out of Falmouth.)

Had a Captain in the Army that always used to say "Never trust the first report."