Cruise boss: Cayman tourism model outdated

| 03/10/2019 | 99 Comments
Cayman News Service
Stingray City, Grand Cayman

(CNS): The president of Royal Caribbean Cruises has said the development of cruise berthing facilities in Grand Cayman would “open the door” of opportunity to modernise the tourism product the island offers, but it is not a solution to all of the problems. Micheal Bayley implied that the Cayman Islands was stuck with an old model, which led to 9,000 people cramming onto Stingray City. He said mass tourism wasn’t the problem, rather the way we manage it.

Speaking to CNS during the roadshow that the Verdant Isle group, the selected bidders on the proposed project, held this week, the cruise boss was candid about the focus of the cruise partners in the consortium. They want Cayman to have piers because tendering is a “bother” that creates “anxiety” for the crews and was “less than ideal”.

Bayley expressed his view that mass tourism, something that people here remain very concerned about, was not a bad thing and it is “all about perspective”.

He disputed that the project would result in the destruction of massive amounts of coral because, he said, they intend to move it. He made it clear that everything has an environmental impact but on balance, he believes that the impact on our reefs is worth what he saw as progress towards a better tourism product.

The cruise representatives all said that they were highly confident that the coral relocation would go very well. Bayley, in particular, was keen to dismiss public concerns about this project, urging people to look at what he said was a ‘win-win’ for everyone, rather than the position of some people that it is a ‘win-lose’ situation. “We are not the enemy,” he stated.

Bayley was keen to press his view that the world is changing, more people want to travel, and the cruise sector gives vacationers what they want with their constantly evolving product.

“I don’t agree that mass tourism isn’t working,” he said, suggesting that Royal Caribbean’s customers were having fantastic experiences in some destinations, with massive headcounts, because things were managed well. He pointed to the cruise line’s private destination on the Bahamas several times, as he questioned the unnecessary concern about carrying capacity when large numbers are properly managed.

It was clear that the cruise lines’ involvement in this project is primarily for their convenience, but at the same time Bayley was keen to press the idea that it also presented opportunities for Cayman if operators embraced change and created new attractions for visitors.

As an example, he implied that the Stingray City tour was something that belonged in the past. His solution for managing the mass tourism at the sand bar is to raise the price of the excursions to manage the numbers.

But he questioned where the tourism product here was going and what it was that people would want in the future. He warned that the island had to be aware of what visitors wanted and then provide it in well managed, innovative ways.

When CNS asked about the squeezed margins on local operators and complaints from some of them about their relationships with the cruise companies, Bayley said that not all tours are created equal. In every destination around 20% of the operators the cruise line works with are not up to scratch, Bayley said, adding that margins depend on various factors.

But he would not be drawn on what he saw as a fair margin for operators, saying the issue was “complicated” and a difficult question to answer, as it “was not that simple”.

T.J. O’Sullivan, also from Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, echoed the sentiment that the cruise companies are looking for innovative excursion ideas from stakeholders. He said that while Royal would be re-tendering tours around the time that the cruise piers were due for completion, as they have just recently gone through the process, the door was always open to new ideas from operators who come up with something they haven’t seen before.

Although he was unable to give an exact figure, Bayley said that when the cruise project is finished there would be “maybe two” Oasis-class ships plying the Western Caribbean routes. This means that after two concrete piers are constructed in the harbour for four of these massive ships, it will be a long time before Grand Cayman sees more than two calls per week.

Despite having some obvious reservations about what Cayman is offering visitors and how it is managing the numbers at busy times, O’Sullivan was still keen to stress that Cayman remains a popular destination. He said that the cruise lines would not stop calling, no matter what happened regarding the piers.

Bayley and most of the cruise representatives all agreed that however much they offered on board ship, the ports of call were still the most important element for people selecting a cruise.

Among other revelations, he confirmed that their lawyers registered the new company, Verdant Isle, on Cayman Brac but no one knew why. They all said that they would be endeavoring to find out the reason and confirmed that when they open an office, it will be on Grand Cayman.

Bayley emphatically denied having any discussions with government about the referendum question or even wanting to be involved, insisting that was a matter for the people here. He said that the group would hold an open town hall public meeting later this month.

The Verdant Isle partners said that much of the missing information about this project, such as the technical designs and the details about the jobs being created, would all be posted on the website, which was expected to be live by next week.


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Category: Business, development, Local News, Tourism

Comments (99)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I agree with him. It is outdated and unsustainable. Time to move our focus from his $20 a day cruiseship passengers to our $2000 stayover tourism.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    We have left a lot of room for “free” improvement in the civil and gender rights categories and those can be attractions in their own right. For example, Topfreedom wouldn’t cost us a dime. Women should have the same desexualized right as a man to choose to go topless or nurse without fearing penalty or tan lines.

    All it would require is a muzzle on the selective-immodesty sensitivities of the CI Ministers Association (see Batabano, Pirate’s Week, Bracinal and Caymas) and an educational amendment to Commissioner’s interpretation of §59(3)(d)(iv) of the Police Law (2017) in regards to “public indecency”.

    There are lots of vacationers/residents that would welcome tanning without a top…why don’t we decriminalize non-sexual toplessness for starters? Or are we not adult-enough to handle that?

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  3. Anonymous says:

    i wonder how Moses and Rosa Harris feels about him saying our Tourism model is outdated?

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    • Anonymous says:

      The entire Ministry should hold their head in shame as well as DOT. What have they been doing with our product development except reacting, and going on many many junkets.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Quality over quantity.

    – Whodatis

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Their convenience and their interests are paramount, thanks CNS for highlighting that. Mr. Bayley has admitted that for the foreseeable future after the piers become available, hypothetically, there could be two Oasis-class stops per week (read “be hopeful”). So why is our Government intending to commit $200 million (which may double), receive nothing for twenty-five years, undertake major on-land roadworks and other traffic accommodating measures for downtown GT at public cost (they haven’t even factored this in yet), etc., for the possibility of two Oasis-class ships per week?!

    He’s politely telling Cayman that our tourism product is outdated, Stingray City is “in the past”, etc. He’s really telling us that there is nothing in Cayman as attractions, compared to other nearby destinations, to accommodate the interest of the majority of passengers on daily Oasis arrivals. He’s right. On the western end Cayman Turtle Centre and SC can’t cut it. Traffic and the ground transportation situation are so screwed up that it’s challenging to efficiently include an island tour or Pedro St. James, Botanic Park, Crystal Caves, etc. Many tourists from the ship never see these.

    Let’s imagine that tomorrow the tour operators and the cruise lines could take advantage of the eastern-district attractions. On a cruise ship day not just the SMB traffic corridor would be extra busy but all the eastern roads. Just the tour buses and taxis which exist now along with normal existing traffic on those roads would choke them. Then let us assume that most ship visitors would have a good to great experience at each of the eastern-district attractions (I have) and they would each consistently capture enough visitors to significantly boost the tourism product overall, so as to make the cruise lines “consider” more Oasis stops per week. Then let us “transport” (pun intended) ourselves to the future with only two Oasis class per week adding to the present ships and the traffic from all of that. Then what if they add more stops per week? It could be exponential but I’ll stop there. So where are our roads and other infrastructure for all this? Roadworks being presently considered will not be enough. So there goes a few more dozen million$ of our money!

    So there is no long-term win for Cayman to build piers to accommodate Oasis-class. Either we take the step (subject to referendum), build at great public debt, risk unknown environment damage (itself with trickle effects), incur greater public debt for roadworks downtown and island-wide to facilitate the Oasis tourist requirements, or we don’t and continue to accommodate the present class of ships as long as they sail (that’s another factor being overlooked, there will always be a market for the “smaller” ships after the Oasis’ are sailing) and spend the same $200 + million to get our roads and other infrastructure upgraded for our present needs. Population is increasing and all that follows from that impacts us daily, not just on cruise ship days! Let’s get our home in order first before we spread the expensive mats to welcome more visitors!

    Voters of Cayman, please pay special attention and read between the lines what this man has presented. Basically, don’t expect Oasis-class ships because there’s nothing here to capture their passengers. So why are we getting saddled with a big debt?! VOTE IN THE REFERENDUM – NO TO THE PORT FOR OASIS-CLASS!

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    • Anonymous says:

      As a stay over tourist, you need to lower air and hotel prices. If I can’t afford to come down, then I can’t spend my money in your restaurants and entertainment spots. I travel on school holidays/ Christmas break and prices are 3x what they normally are and 2 x what they used to be. Come on Cayman!?!
      I used to come down 2-3 times a year and since the other islands had the hurricanes, I can only come down in low season.
      Secondly, stop all the concrete building! It is ruining the look of the island. It is used to be buildings had to be a certain height and fit into the look of the island, but now there is construction, traffic everywhere and tall, cement, ugly buildings popping up everywhere.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Sadly it’s not just the tourists from cruise ships but also stay over tourists too. Cayman needs to change with the times and the competition. Look at Mexico with all its same geography. They are not pushing swamp. People don’t want to walk through mosquito laden swamp to see a bird if mosquitoes. Need a zip line, more services on the beach and less people.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Not going to happen, referendum will stop it from the feedback I get from everyone I talk to. ..please god I hope so.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    This is why we need an underwater escalator to the ships instead of big ugly piers. I been telling you all this.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5WE8UnzqlCM

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Everything in the cayman islands is outdated.
    Policy is made by dinosaur politicians backed up by jesus freaks.
    what can you expect ?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Great description of the Cayman leaders. Isn’t it weird when a person would be too old to be a clerk or a gardener or a police-court magistrate, that he is ripe to govern a country? Is it because it requires little mental ability to rule a nation?

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  9. Anonymous says:

    It’s the usual bullshit from another cruise line executive who makes more money then all tour operators combined ! They mark up our tours 299/1000 percent and squeeze our margins! They destroy the corals ! No berth in cayman for ever!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Ah yes, but take a look at the vast majority of tour boats going to the Sandbar. They are mostly old, filthy and unsafe, crewed by cowboy ‘captains’ and hopeless kids who couldn’t get a real job if their lives depended on it. I doubt whether the vast majority have any form of official qualification to operate a commercial vessel, so why should the cruise lines pay more for a sub-standard and unsafe service?
      It’s only a matter of time before overloading and reckless behaviour causes a major incident in the middle of the North Sound. And where are the police, port authority and the doe during this chaos? The licensing system is hopeless with operators not conforming to the license conditions, but to make matters worse, the doe appear toothless to do anything about deliberate violations. The police are never seen on the Sandbar, despite the fact that this is an obvious area of concern in regard to public and marine safety, noise nuisance from party boats and general bad behaviour, specifically at weekends. And what exactly do the port authority do, apart from drive around in big trucks and cruise around the harbour looking important, yet having no authority to do anything?
      The sad fact is that this island has an appalling town vista and amenities, hopeless public transport, a skyline dominated by concrete and few opportunities to taste the real Cayman. It is a generic mix of overpriced jewellery outlets, tee shirt stores and tacky gift shops, all of which fail to offer anything different than any other Caribbean destination.
      Oh, and its run by inept politicians and crooked business leaders whose only concern is how much money they can rip off their own people and visitors for whilst failing to offer a truly welcoming and safe experience for all.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    So once all these extra thousands of people are herded ashore then what? What are they going to do?

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  11. Anonymous says:

    If anything we should be looking to reduce cruise ship numbers, especially the trashy Carnival ships. “Paradise” my a55.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    Dear Mr Barley, Please find the nearest Oasis Class ship and stick-it!

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  13. Anonymous says:

    We should be focusing on attracting tourists that are interested in what we already have (snorkel & dive spots, crystal caves, bio-luminescence tours, botanic park, etc.) not changing our islands to accommodate a minority that want to further fill their pockets out of greed.

    If they want theme parks and other commercial activities let them go to Florida or elsewhere.

    We should be preserving and protecting our natural attractions.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    I was always told you should never gamble with what you can’t afford to lose. If we lose our environment, just what do we have left to attract tourists with?

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Disneyland Grand Cayman?

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  16. Beth Freeman says:

    We do not live on-island, but we do own property, we consider Grand Cayman our 2nd home and spend as much time on-island as possible. This makes my blood boil! Why do Bayley and the Verdant Isle group believe they can tell the people of Cayman what is best? These people have no concern for what is best for Cayman, they only care about what is most convenient for them and how they can make the most money. They have no concern for the environment and they could care less about damage this port will cause. To say the coral will be relocated and they are confident moving the coral will work out fine….crazy talk. I hope and pray this project does not move forward.

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    • Steve Pounds says:

      Here here well said (own no property there but been coming there every year since 1982 they will ruin the place

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      • Anonymous says:

        its ‘Hear Hear’ not here, here. what school did you go to?

        • Debbie does Dullards says:

          423 tell them that
          Hear is with your ear and that is right after that H
          Now here is like a place.
          Come here.
          Here is where I live.
          English is tough but learning is a life long job that we work at here.
          I hear that.

    • Anonymous says:

      Used to own property on Grand Cayman, got out a year ago. The place is a ticking time bomb.

      If it’s not the port, sadly, it will be the 50 story tower.

      Grand Cayman is wayyyyyyyyy past the point of no return.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    “He said that the cruise lines would not stop calling, no matter what happened regarding the piers.”

    so why the f*ck are we even bothering? stop this nonsense, and start governing…relocate major CIG offices EAST and out of GT/SMB area; build some proper schools; sort health costs; sort the dump; protect the land from any more overdevelopment; and so on, and so on…stop lining your own pockets. For crying out loud, stop.

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    • Anonymous says:

      So true. So much needs to be done before these piers. This push for the dock is all about pockets being lined and nothing to do with what is best for Cayman and what the people want. Very sad times. Our fore fathers who worked so hard to develop these islands into a high end destination are rolling over.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Exactly! When is enough enough?

  18. Anonymous says:

    We don’t want it or need it. The reefs will be permanently destroyed and then the cruise ships will just go elsewhere. They will say oh sorry but the pretty girl on the block (Cayman) no longer has the beauty that it once had because we allowed a non resident/non scuba diver/money grabber to tell us what to do.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Why registered in Cayman Brac. I smell something very sneaky going on here

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    • Anonymous says:

      Because that’s their real target. The Brac is ideal for a cruise resort like the one on Grand Turk. Build a simple pier (I was out there when it was built) to take two cruise ships, promise employment and income for the local population then screw us for every cent you can make out of it in concessions. That’s how cruise lines work, the people running them are a damn sight smarter than anyone at CIG or in the LA.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I find it very difficult to believe that he doesn’t know why the company was registered in Cayman Brac. I have nothing against Cayman Brac but his “don’t know” excuse is pitiful. Don’t even try to say it was a benefit to the Brac because to set up the company is not a huge fee. Probably under $1,000. It also sounds to me that his main concern is to dump thousands more on our rock even though he claims that sting ray city is outdated. He didn’t even care enough to offer any suggestions. Our government cares so much that they have put all of their energy and effort into lying to us with their anancy stories that no mention has been made about improving the tourism product to accommodate the increased numbers. His response concerning the narrow margins for local operators was quite flippant. They really do not care whether the local operators can make a living wage from it or not he offered no real facts that the reef will grow in the area that they will move it to. I guess they will relocate it and hope for the best but that should not be good enough for us. He didn’t or couldn’t even offer any other location where such a large portion of the beach was cut up and move with positive results. His comment about ” the reef would be destroyed because they intend to move it. We know they’d intend to move it, we want to know what facts h has that it will grow in the new location.
      The thousands more people that they will land in George Town will not be the ones doing most of the diving or snorkeling in George Town Harbour, it will be our stay over guests that will be negatively impacted.

      To sum it up as I understand it

      Sting Ray City is outdate
      The tour operators will still be racing along the roads for pittance.
      A huge portion of the reef will be destroyed
      Our government has made no mention of plans to improve the tourism product besides the monster piers
      The ports of call ( not the port – my take )is still the most important element for people taking a cruise*
      Cayman remains a popular destination and the cruise lines would not stop calling whether or not the piers are built *
      Even after building two piers to accommodate four ships it would be long time before we see more that two of the massive ships tied up.
      Still does not sound like a WIN WIN proposition to me but I am still waiting with bated breath.

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      • Anonymous says:

        My apologies, I meant to say ” a large portion of the reef” instead of ” a large portion of the beach”

    • WhaYaSay! says:

      Might explain the massive real estate purchases by the Dart team (under MANY different company names of course) on the sister islands.

  20. Anonymous says:

    The mass tourism model is outdated and more importantly it is UNSUSTAINABLE!!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      To the people of Cayman , don’t fall for the smoke & mirrors B.S. this Bayley is trying to spin in front of you. If our tourism model is outdated , why is stay-over tourism going up in incremental percentages ? Why are air arrivals now at a level that has never before been seen here? You will notice that no mention of stay-over tourist , nor air arrivals numbers are on his agenda. The reason the numbers have gone up as we have seen , in addition to the 2017 eastern Caribbean hurricane season impacts , are the tourism product here now is what people want , for all the positive reasons that have made it that way.
      Outdated tourism model ? No..Bobo.

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  21. Anonymous says:

    Or don’t wait…just petition the Governor now to use his Constitutional reserve powers to: (a) enact SIPL immediately, (b) amend candidacy rules to expand the pool, (c) dissolve LA and call elections for 6 months (while SIPL investigations trickle through the courts).

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  22. Anonymous says:

    First of all, I don’t recognize RCL or CCL’s facetious authority to instruct us to do anything. Secondly, we are the number 1 cruise ship stop in Western Caribbean itineraries, and there is no other comparable stop for hundreds, if not, thousands of miles. We ought to be instructing the liners on our terms, not the other way around.

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  23. Anonymous says:

    How is it that all we have been hearing about for the past 2ish years is how the stay over tourism numbers are up.

    Skyrocketing!

    Then we get this Bayley guy in and his Verdant Isle group and, magically, all of the sudden, the tourism product of Grand Cayman sucks? Really? I don’t think so. Unless the DoT has been artificially boosting their numbers…………………

    I feel that these talks have been beyond rude. It has gone from the polite :suggestion and recommendation” phase to the strong arm “do this our way or we (cruise lines) won’t come and stay” phase.

    Nobody should be kowtowing to these people. Nobody.

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  24. Anonymous says:

    1. “Bayley was keen to press the idea that it also presented opportunities for Cayman if operators embraced change and created new attractions for visitors.”

    And what might those “new attractions” be? A casino? A theme park? Dont need them!

    2. “As an example, he implied that the Stingray City tour was something that belonged in the past.

    The reason people come to Cayman is for our natural beautiful beaches, water clarity, diving, fishing ie the environment. Stingy City is a benefit from our environment is unique and world famous! Thing of the past? Is he nuts?

    3. “His solution for managing the mass tourism at the sand bar is to raise the price of the excursions to manage the numbers.”

    And who will reap the profits from increased prices? Not the tour operators as their margins are thinner than a razor blade, so it will be the cruise company.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Of course if this goes through based on the current fees and they collect the tourist tax for 25 years they will increase every fee, tourist tax, entrance to sting ray city, botanic park etc. who is going to stop them? It will all be paid up front when booking is made. He is going to bring the hordes and then penalize them for coming in droves by upping the fees. When we get it back we will have to spend a whopping amount to repair it.

  25. WhaYaSay! says:

    I guess offering a QUALITY product is “outdated’. Let’s ruin our product and see if the cruise lines stick around (the nice thing about cruise ships is; they can “pull up anchor” and bugger off unlike hotels/condos that actually have physical structures). SMH

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    • SSM345 says:

      Poor people cannot afford our product and that’s what these guys pander their product too, much like our Politicians prey on the poor, weak and ill-informed. Couldn’t give a F about anybody but themselves.

      Hope everybody ready for the war that’s coming.

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  26. Anonymous says:

    That’s right. We need docks. Not tenders. We need to be like the cruise ship’s own ‘private islands in the Bahamas. Like
    Great Stirrup Cay, (Norwegian Cruise Line) Tender – No Dock
    Half Moon Cay, (Carnival, Holland America Cruise Lines) Tender – No Dock
    Princess Cays (Princess Cruise Line) Tender – No Dock

    Uhm, wait, what? Why aren’t they themselves buying what they’re selling?

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  27. Anonymous says:

    I must say, I am absolutely disgusted with the Verdant Isles Group. It blows my hair back at the sheer audacity of them coming here and touting their spin and obvious insults.

    I cannot believe the CIG and DoT are pandering to these fools.

    How do you relocate 22 acres of coral and sunken treasures? How many years will that take, as I assume they will do all of this BEFORE the port construction begins? If the coral relocation fails, as it will, does the port construction stop? It doesn’t matter – it will all be too late.

    When SMB disappears because of the natural conveyor-like action what will they do, exactly? Twiddle their thumbs, kick dust and say, “Oops…”

    Build the pier but be prepared, your tourism product sucks and that will require a brand new re-haul, too; at the hands of RCCL, Carnival, Bayley and his cronies.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Most coral structures are centuries if not thousands of years old
      The CIG can tout whatever relocation projects they want, coral structures aren’t parks or gardens you can’t just move them and have a new reef in a couple years

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  28. Anonymous says:

    Anyone saying that tendering is a good solution has never cruised to see the difference. I don’t care whether you like this particular project or not, tendering as a process is horrible compared to a dock. I actually don’t think that brining more people is the answer, but the island will get a ton more out of the tourists that we already do get just by adding one pier as the experience, convenience and more time ashore will bring way more spending on everything than keeping the tenders. Just simple facts.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I just prefer not to take a cruises in the first place because they’re unsustainable floating garbage crap.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Been on multiple cruises – ports with docks are dirty concrete nightmares with milky churned up ports from the stabilizers. Where do you think that silt will go? And the people coming off the ship, whether they waddle onto a tender or onto a dock, are just as reticent with their wallets regardless. Educate yourself.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Didn’t Bayley say the ships will not stay longer than the do now…How does that help?

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    • Kim says:

      Absolute rubbish. I have been on several cruises and always pick excursions where there is a tender over a long, hot, crowded traipse along a boring concrete dock. I would rather stay aboard than face that, especially if it looks like it might rain as there is no cover. Using a tender is like getting a “free” boat trip added on. It’s often fun and well organized – and no one pushing to get past me.

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  29. Anonymous says:

    The cruise industry is a highly polluting and unsustainable undustry. Either Cayman is real about Climate Change or it is not.
    If you want these huge CO2 generators belching out their fumes, dumping at sea and leaving behind thousands of discarded plastic water bottles, then let’s support these people.
    In a few years, the cruise industry will be dead as people wake up to the damage it causes to the environment.
    These people from the Verdant Isle cartel are dinosaurs trying to squeeze the dregs out of an already rotten fruit.
    Mr. Bayley, there is only so much more you can say or do before the people who care about the planet reject your “industry” out of hand. No to the port and no to cruise ships.
    No to Verdant Isle and yes to sustainability.

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  30. Anonymous says:

    blah blah blah..we 1 hr from miami…that says it all…

  31. Anonymous says:

    Put a Cannabis dispensary & lounge at the exit of the port terminal and we could build the dock 5 times over with the tax revenue. No reason to get off when alcohol is included.. but a medical herb on the other hand..

    Colorado has just reached over $1,000,000,000 in tax revenue from over $6 billion in sales! Money that goes to their community.. which would otherwise go to the cartel / drug lords to fund their smuggling operations.

    Think of the retail, agricultural and export opportunities..

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  32. Anonymous says:

    Mass tourism is a good idea ? WOW!!!

    Please vote to show these idiots the door when the time comes !!!

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    • SSM345 says:

      Mass tourism is great for those that own everything that the “masses” are being brought too……Our Govt is about to sell out Grand Cayman completely and shaft everyone in the process; get ready for it.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Mass tourism is not good in any way shape or form for Cayman period.

        The world is changing. Aiming at high end tourists and eco tourists (including diving) is a far better choice.

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  33. Auribus Teneo Lupum says:

    Verdant Isle Port Partners and the National Unity government continue to spin a tale to the public.

    They have an agenda that the people of this country help should pay for a project the country does not need. Look at the facts given the record number of 1.92m cruise passengers that come to Cayman in 2018 with numbers increasing over the past 7 years with more growth anticipated. Suddenly 2.5 million passengers are now the minimum annual target but Cayman’s carrying capacity as stated by DOT is 2.1m

    This week has been “a dog and pony show” full of empty promises slick talking and very little details or confirmations from Verdant Isle on anything of substance.

    How are they allowed to speak on behalf of the elected government?
    What about the People’s Referendum?
    Who voted for Verdant Isle Port Partners?
    Why is our Government silent?
    Will our government members finally admit they have been lying to the voting public?

    https://www.visitcaymanislands.com/statistics/biannual2018/index.html#page16
    https://cnslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/Draft-National-Tourism-Plan-August-2018.pdf
    http://www.legislativeassembly.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/9781757.PDF

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  34. Anonymous says:

    If conditions of the area where they want to relocate corals were conducive to its health, corals would have relocated on its own. In nature, all living things thrive where conditions are best for its survival. That is what happened to a Pakistani cooking celebrity who died young in NYC from bone cancer not even knowing what killed her. Her genetic makeup was for thriving in Pakistan climate, not under artificial lights of NYC. She was a cactus in tundra.

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  35. Anonymous says:

    Read between the lines.

    They won’t bring more passengers until we have more attractions.

    Our model is outdated and tons of passengers is fine as long as they are managed properly.

    Translation: after you let us build these piers, we will then require you to surrender or develop large areas of land including beachfront land with ‘attractions’ so that we have somewhere to put all of our passengers, otherwise we won’t bring them

    Real translation: once you bend over completely, relax and stay still, you will find that our passengers fit comfortably inside, and are able to enter and exit the jurisdiction easily.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Post of the day. On the internet.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I love your comment and agree with it 100%.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Well we know where the proposed tours to the beach resorts are going to don’t we?
      Could it be Royal Palms site ; “No-longer Kaboo” site and Barkers site? Is there anywhere else left?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Flim flam for sure. Neither the government nor the general public should fall for this junk. It can’t do any good for anyone or any coral reef or any beach or any home or any public institution whatsoever. What is the government doing even considering much less recommending approval of such nonsense.

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  36. Anonymous says:

    It is interesting that Cayman Airways has been enduring serious problems with their international flights, almost as if paving the way for an influx of cruise tourism as a preferred route for accessing the island. They wanted a bigger airport to accommodate the large amounts of flight passengers and that in itself was a sloppy job which destroyed culturally historic monuments such as the open-air waving gallery and observation facility.

    Now they want to build a berthing system to > create < large amounts of cruise passengers. For who? For what? If you want more activity in the capital, invest in fixing up the neighbourhoods and investing in places where people want to go/buy/sell. Invest in the culture sector and use that history as a tourism point. Everybody and their mama got sand, water, and fruit punch, give people unique reasons to come to the island and they will come. It don't take a drink in Monaco to figure that one out bobo.

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  37. Anonymous says:

    Lately this cruise port idea just going from bad to worse how can this guy mind you he’s not from this country!!!!!! Be informing the Cayman public how to develop our product that is unique to Cayman? Who are we really catering to? Tell you what hope they don’t expect me to vote for a port!!! Read between the lines my Cayman people!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      I see a lot of dislikes but I know for sure the kirk bots at it again!! At the end of the day we will vote and you will get our answer!!

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  38. Anonymous says:

    Do we want to go high end with our tourism model or low end in the future?

    Obviously, if we go the cruise line way we will be going low end.

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  39. Anonymous says:

    Bayley – mass tourism is a bad thing. What you are selling, we ain’t buying.

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    • Anonymous says:

      He’s selling a terrible for the environment crappy vacation to a bunch of cheapos. And the way that they make money is by also controlling the vendors in each port. Don’t ever for a second think the cruise ships are in it to help us out, they’re in it for themselves and they don’t care about anything but their bottom line. Exactly like what the current government cares about too, their bottom line and not the people.

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  40. Troubled Turtle says:

    This is what they want Cayman to become for them:
    https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cococay-cruises

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    • Anonymous says:

      Holy shit, what an eyesore!

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    • BeaumontZodecloun says:

      I think you are spot on, and that video made me sick; it’s like the Microsoft game “Paradise Island”, where you decimate a cartoon paradise and “build” hotels, restaurants and other tacky attractions.

      We too, can become a plastic wonderland if we but support Mr. Bayley’s vision. Disgusting.

      We have always been self-determining. Let us never accept shiny promises in exchange for our beautiful lands and sea.

      Remember this?

      Dear, verdant island, set
      In blue Caribbean sea,
      I’m coming, coming very soon,
      O beauteous isle, to thee.

      Verdant island, doesn’t mean owned by them.

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  41. Anonymous says:

    Cruise berthing has never JUST been about the large ships. Yes, they are a big reason (no pun intended), but the overall efficiency, ease of transport, convenience and most importantly CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE and satisfaction is always vital.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Except the report all show that the piers will have, at best, minimal improvement to any of those things. The passengers won’t get ashore much faster on that long walk in the hot sun down the uncovered cement piers than riding to shore on a covered boat, and it certainly won’t be any more convenient, and we have to improve the land-said transport congestion anyway, whether we build the docks or not. So lose, lose, lose. Even before we sell our tours to the cruise lines because they said they needed more attractions. (Or at least a bigger cut of the sandbar tours than they are already getting.)

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      • Anonymous says:

        And in bad weather those long concrete piers aren’t getting anyone ashore either – the ships will still have to pass us by or tender in Spotts.

    • Anonymous says:

      Tell us why we should care?

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    • BeaumontZodecloun says:

      Consider this:

      Have you seen the congestion in George Town when three or more ships are in port? People standing in lines hoping there is a beer and a bathroom at the end. Now imagine that they weren’t tendered — brought in gradually — but offloaded all at once.

      Does that sound like an improvement in their CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE to you?

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