By Michael Jarrett

2006, April 6: As cruise lines draft and implement plans to build bigger and bigger ships, the question arises as to whether Caribbean destinations should become concerned about accommodating these massive vessels.

No doubt, the huge ships of the future will pose challenges for regional ports.  When interviewed by Florida Today during the recent (2006) Seatrade Convention in Miami, William Tatham, of the Port Authority of Jamaica said that, already, larger cruise ship crowds disembarking in Jamaica have resulted in cruise lines "funneling off passengers in many directions" for on-shore excursions, by finding alternatives to the traditional tours and attractions.

Indeed, given the massive size of the vessels now being built and those planned to come on stream over the next three years; the thousands of passengers that these mega-ships will discharge in any one call may not be the Caribbean’s only problem. Indeed, the physical limitation of ports and their capacity to handle thousands of passengers at the same time is a major problem.

In fact, industry and shipbuilding officials are already concerned that the huge ships of the future will be too big for many ports. They will not be able to dock alongside most piers. At Port Canaveral in Brevard County, officials gave Royal Caribbean representatives a tour of the port in hopes of enticing the company to base a future super-sized ship there. Canaveral Port Authority Commission plans to remove a corner of the Port Canaveral's western turning basin to create more room for the ships of the future.

In the Caribbean, the new super mega-ships will have to drop anchor out in the stream and passengers will have to be shuttled ashore in boats. The cruise call will come to resemble what it looked like before Caribbean governments spent millions of dollars of the taxes gathered from the poor to build cruise ship berths.

GENESIS

Take for example Royal Caribbean’s proposed “Genesis”, planned for delivery in 2009. It will be the biggest ship on the sea -- 220,000 tons with 2,700 cabins carrying 6,400 passengers and dwarfing every cruise ship now in service. Costing about $230,000 per berth and requiring just under 6,000 man-years for construction.

However, “Genesis” won’t be a Revelation for another three years or so. Royal Caribbean’s Freedom Of The Seas is expected to be in Caribbean service by June 4th this year, visiting Miami, Florida; Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Labadee, Hispaniola; Miami, Florida. A massive 158,000-ton ship with 1,816 cabins, it will take the title of largest cruise ship from the 150,000-ton Queen Mary 2. Just six years ago, the new generation of mega-ships was led by Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, 137,300 tons with 1,557 cabins.

There are no basic technical constraints to further increase cruise ship size. According to Maurizio Cergol, chief designer (cruise) for Italy's Fincantieri shipbuilding yard, speaking at a panel discussion on mega-ships at the Seatrade Cruise Convention, there can be limitless increases in cruise ship size in the future. Tom Degerman, vice president of cruise vessels for Aker Finnyards, another European shipbuilder, agreed.

Cergol, as reported in Florida Today, said cruise lines have economic incentives to build huge ships because of the "economies of scale" they provide, such as reduced investment, crew expenses and operating expenses per berth, compared with smaller ships. However, he accepted that there also are disadvantages, including the inability of ports to accommodate these jumbo mega-ships; and, the massive price tags for building them. He also mentioned reduction in the number of cabins with windows; less open-deck space; and, the logistics of handling the large number of passengers.

Check-in times at cruise passenger terminals have increased dramatically since the terrorist attacks in New York in September 2001. Waiting time has doubled or tripled. It now takes four to six hours, because of expanded security checks. Bigger ships carrying even more passengers could further increase the time spent processing passengers, significantly.

Even as the cruise lines debate the pros and cons of building bigger and bigger cruise ships, the Caribbean cruise industry needs to follow these discussions closely.

IMPLICATIONS ARE TREMENDOUS

The implications for the Region are tremendous and should be studied. There are many issues to study and resolve, not just economic but environmental and social.

With larger cruise ships there will be more cabins to fill. Passenger volumes are going to be greater but, also, the demographics will be different. Caribbean countries need to be aware of these shifts, in order to be ready for the type of passengers who will come ashore. The average hotel guest vacationing at Caribbean properties in the 1960s were not the same type of individual (financially or otherwise) being accommodated in the 21st century. Ask any hotel operator whose tourism experience spans the last four or more decades.

Mass marketing has significantly increased the volumes of long-stay visitors coming into Caribbean resorts and it has also changed the face of the ‘average visitor’ who checks in to our hotels. There is no reason to believe that this will be different in the cruise industry as more aggressive mass marketing techniques and strategies are used to fill cruise ship cabins. In fact, recent experience has shown otherwise.

* Michael S.L. Jarrett is the Caribbean Shipping Association's Director of Information and Public Relations