Mass market cruise lines flounder

| 14/05/2020 | 167 Comments
Cayman News Service
Carnival Freedom

(CNS): Carnival Corporation has announced a slew of layoffs, furloughs, reduced work weeks and salary reductions, including senior management, across its cruise line brands in an effort to survive in the face of the current pandemic, which has put a temporary stop to all cruises. This followed refinancing efforts last month that netted $6.4 billion of additional liquidity for the ailing giant of the industry.

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean, the second largest cruise company, has offered 28 ships as collateral for a $3.3 billion bond sale after it forecast heavy losses for the first quarter of the year.

But on Wednesday Moody’s slashed Royal Caribbean’s credit rating by two notches to Ba2 into junk territory, not only looking at its current suspended operations but also the expectation of a slow recovery even when cruises resume.

“Cruise operations will continue to be suspended in the US beyond the current July 24 no-cruise order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and available capacity will be modest for the remainder of 2020 and possibly into early 2021 as the risk of fully restarting operations before proper safety protocols are in place far exceed the potential reward,” stated Pete Trombetta, Moody’s cruise analyst.

“When cruise operations do resume deployed cruise ships will have limits on the occupancy for each ship while social distancing rules remain in place which will lead to lower ship-level profitability during this period,” he added.

In a press release issued Thursday revealing its layoffs, Carnival, which operates nine cruise lines worldwide, said it was “working closely with governments, regulatory agencies, health and infectious disease care experts around the globe to develop the best practice public health protocols to address the threat of COVID-19 for when guest operations resume”.

The current crisis follows a disastrous period for the company, after two Carnival cruise ships crashed in Mexico in December, and in January of this year a US court found that its ships were still polluting the air and the water, despite it being on probation for pollution felonies and at risk of more multi-million dollar fines.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic Carnival and Royal Caribbean, which both sell mass market cheap cruises, were set to be the cruise partners for the Cayman Islands Government’s proposed cruise port project, but are now among the major cruise lines struggling to stay afloat after all cruises were stopped mid-march.

Scenic Eclipse

However, at the other end of the market, the Scenic Group, which offers luxury cruises on its 228-passenger Scenic Eclipse, last week announced that it has begun construction on its second vessel, Eclipse II, in Croatia. The Australian-owned company has also committed to build five more vessels in the next six years.

Scenic Eclipse was launched in August 2019 and completed its first season sailing around the Arctic, Antarctica, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. It has two six-guest helicopters, one six-guest submarine, 10 dining options, indoor and outdoor plunge pools and a 1:1 guest-to-staff ratio.


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Category: Business, Tourism

Comments (167)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    My dream comes true when not a single cruise ship enters the waters of the Cayman Islands ever again! If the people of these islands can’t clearly see the beauty and worth of what we have to offer then you need to look again. Without those tacky people walking around Georgetown with their long red toenails, an entire scene of classic beauty can emerge. Built it and they will come. They really will!

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  2. Anonymous says:

    11:04 We still have a problem, now that Cruise Industry is gone we have to find something
    New to Beat the Government for!

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  3. TRON says:

    At least, this will make for much cleaner air. The only thing that will be burning 24/7 will be the dump. Alden, take those millions you were willing to spend on the port and fix the dump. Yea hear?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Tron, really? Tradewinds blow from East to West. That means you have to be behind the stern to smell the smoke coming from its smokestack.
      I want to touch the high-end tourists coming to Cayman. Remember only one person came to shore that had the virus. He was from Italy, not the USA. If you don’t want cruisers who also have high-end tourists onboard. How are we going to get these people here? Airplanes going to have to do the exact thing that ships are going to do. Less people coming is the real story and that not going to help hotels,condos, taxis, busses, stores, rental property, grocery stores beauty parlors, etc,etc. You need the numbers or not even Burger king will work here.

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  4. Anon says:

    I read most of the comments here and I am so impressed with the knowledge the writers have of tourism. I feel sure that given the knowledge known about tourism, this industry will thrive for many years to come, should we be able to formulate a policy to guide tourism.

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    • Anonymous says:

      There is a lot of tourism knowledge but some of those people need to run for political office because the current political gang don’t get it. Too busy taking care of their own economic interests.

      Never lived in a place with so much brain power that never seems to translate into the governing political realm.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Here is something to consider. Venice is now considering the abolition of all cruise ship tourists because the quality of the Venice tourist experience has been badly damaged by the low end cruise tourists. Apparently they spend very little while visiting and clog up all the roads, canals and tourist sites there. Now Venice is looking at changing their whole tourist direction and considering going for the upscale elite stay over tourists. They want to raise the quality of the tourist experience.

        Perhaps there is a lesson for Grand Cayman in Venice?

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  5. Anonymous says:

    The anti-dockers will be all over this but go look how many are jobless with no tourism and tell me it isn’t important again

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    • Anonymous says:

      Nobody said no tourism. What most people are saying is forget the damn cruise ship tourists and focus on high end stay over tourism.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Dock isn’t needed for tourism….you’ll have to get your kick back somewhere else.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, but how many are WP holders?

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    • TRON says:

      Ummh, tourism has been doing just fine, dock or no dock.

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    • Anonymous says:

      If someone built something to teleport us instead of having to go on a plane, That industry would be done and no jobs either so we should keep cruise ships coming to infect us and leave behind 3 or 4 plastic water bottles in our land fil and you’ll have a job for $6 hr?
      Time to modify or look for another job. Cruise ships aren’t coming for a long, long time. Best to prepare yourself earlier than scramble later.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I’m guessing you work for or in the tenders. Yeah, you’re done, move on.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    One advantage Cayman might have after the world “reopens” is the way Government has acted on reducing the pandemic threat here – if detractors will relax and let the restriction measures have their intended effect of eradicating the virus locally – a la the New Zealand model. But not if we relax the restrictions too soon! I read a very complimentary article on MSN about Cayman’s pandemic response.

    Anyway, we’re not the only Caribbean tourist destination which has “favourable” infection rates (though I’m not sure that 90+ and counting in a population of 60,000 is really “favourable”).

    In any case, with our main tourist market being North Americans, it is doubtful that the majority of those vacationers will risk the travel process to get here in the first place, when they have a large, beautiful continent of their own with various vacation options.

    But if Donald Trump’s “re-open USA now” backfires and the virus flares up again there as has been predicted as possible, then we won’t have to worry about tourists – they simply won’t be traveling!

    Our Gov’t needs to be examining other sources of revenue really fast!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      We better hope the stable geniuses “re-open USA now “ strategy is correct or we will be screwed tourism wise, for a few years.

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      • Anonymous says:

        If it wasn’t such a damn expensive place to get too and damn expensive place to stay, we would have many more from the UK and Europe.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Why does St. Barths not have this same problem 3:37?

        • Anonymous says:

          And from the U.S. – winter flights were running over $1,000 last 2 years and that was with a connection… or two. Hard to justify… there’s a lot of beaches in the world.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Certainly not looking good in Texas the last few days. New cases are taking off after the opening earlier this month.

  7. Anon says:

    How is that $350m ($700m really) virus importation dock coming along?

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  8. Anonymous says:

    As far as reopening tourism there are two key questions.
    Who can travel here?
    Certainly not the decimated middle class or the lower end cruise trippers. So, they are relatively wealthy willing to pay a small premium for….
    What are those that can travel looking for?
    I would think a safe place that has an excellent control of Covid19 where they can feel secure in the fact they are not going to get infected is a good start.

    Those two questions are what the next 2 years of tourism is about.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    IF we must have cruise tourism why don’t we go after the luxury market instead of the mass low end ships – they don’t spend, they overwhelm the island when here, create massive traffic back ups. Higher end, fewer people, higher pp spend. Makes sense to me IF we’re going to continue with the cruise industry. Let’s go for quality not quantity this time around. We have the chance.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    In any other democracy Mo$e$ would be unanimously voted out of office in the next election for almost bankrupting the country with his misguided cruise pier agenda. However I fear that he will easily win re-election as the ignorance of the voters knows no bounds.

    How about doing the honorable thing Mo$e$ and resign!

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    • Anonymous says:

      That not gonna happen, Mo$e$ makes too much money from things associated with government. He does just enough to appease the voters of Brac West/Little Cayman and to be very honest there is very little serious competition to run against him.
      Mo$e$ will have his seat under he is six feet under – go $2million Brac Turtle Centre and go unfinished building east of FIFA certified football pitch on bluff.

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    • Vote them out says:

      Moses, Alden, McKeeva, Joey and all the others that blindly followed them on the project and sat back knowing that the propaganda was all lies are just as bad. Dwayne Seymour Tara Rivers Austin Harris claimed to be independent thinkers yet supported the project and lies. All MLA’s that helped to waste $11-15m of public funds should voted out of office. Time to drain the Cayman swamp.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You would have to have really thick skin to run in this environment. There will ALWAYS be haters, especially on the forum which is why some people are turned off from running. They probably make a good living in the private sector without all the stress and ungrateful comments from those that have a differing view. Maybe comments should be thoughtful and offer recommendations instead of calling someone a hack or buffoon.

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      • Anonymous says:

        8:13 Yes but you still have a big Job ahead the New Replacements!

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  11. Anonymous says:

    The History of the Cayman Islands should never forget how close The Cayman Islands came to not being in control of their new Port and the devastation the environment would have endured. If Alden , Moses and the Unity government had got their way with the Port. Thank you CPR and all those people brave enough to sigh the referendum. Hero’s . The Cayman Islands have always been bless and I believe we have been once again. Do not forget. Don’t let this Government fool you. #voteno.

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    • Anonymous says:

      The public should also remember the amount of money, which was the people’s money , that this government used to fight its own people when it became very obvious the majority of the people were against the Cruise Port. Court cases,Ads in the paper , ads at the movie theaters, pamphlets dropped off at house…… Caymanian’s could certainly use those funds now to feed their families. Shame on you Unity Government.

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    • Anonymous says:

      8:58 yes, leave it for our Great Grand Children to Build!

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  12. Anonymous says:

    So, that kinda kills off the cruise ship market in the Caribbean, possibly for many years to come.
    No cruise ships, no dock, not rocket science.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Maybe we should buy one of the cruise ships that’s going to go belly up and remodel it to be a hotel. Stick it in the port as a monument of once was.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    Imagine being stuck on one of those floating petri dishes. They have spread Covid, had ships with stomach flu rampant, power lost and floating out at sea, crashing into reefs…. please go away big cruise ships, you’re gross.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    And yet Aldart presses on with port project…..what could po$$ibly be the rea$on?

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    • Anonymous says:

      China has interesting ways of working.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Except Chinese not involved with this one. That was Mac’s UDP project .

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      • Anonymous says:

        In the Caribbean, Chinese state controlled corporations are behind every China project. Chinese state controlled corporations membership is made up of all the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China’s members.

        Leaders, wake up and see what is going on in Africa, South America and around the world.

        As we have seen in the medical equipment and pharma sectors related to the coronavirus we are now totally dependent on China for health related supplies in North America. This is an absurd situation to be put in.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Please let this industry die.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    Imagine how the oceans have been trying to recuperate while the trash and pollution has stopped being dumped all over.

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  18. Anonymous says:

    Had this gov’t blindly proceeded with their intended dredging schedule, our pristine marine park would now have had 12.5 million yards removed, over 10 acres of famous “hope spot” GT diving/snorkeling gone forever, suspended silt particulate trail swirling miles out to sea, and we’d now be faced with a stop work as the liners flee whatever penalties would befall the disposable asset-less shell company, Verdant Isle. If not COVID-19, unlucky wave action from a passing hurricane, or a season-assured Nor’wester would have done the same. Would we be seeking their arrests?

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  19. Anonymous says:

    The cruise industry is dead in the water for the for-seeable future. Tourists will not chance a short cruise for fear of infection & getting stranded , as we have seen thousands do . The U.S. market will most likely evolve to base tourism within their own borders ( U.S.-Canada) , so people do not have to travel far , as well as to build back state-side air travel industry. The silver lining in this global crisis for Cayman is to now embrace the enhancement of developing stay-over tourism, like thousands of people here have suggested. When our border open’s & international air travel is allowed to resume , it will however be a very slow process. Indicators are sometime between 2021 to 2023 for air travel to get back to somewhere near 60% of what it was pre-Covid 19.
    To be competitive though, Cayman will have to slash hotel room costs and condo rentals , potentially as much as 75% from what it was to attract visitors. I hope the C.I.G understands this. Otherwise we wont be able to compete with the likes of Barbados, Jamaica and the score’s of other Caribbean destinations , as well as in the Americas , for the same tourism product.

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    • Anonymous says:

      No need to slash room rates. The current room stock was at near capacity and our product is geared toward the high end of the market which will recover quickly.

      Also no surprise that Cayman was listed as the #1 destination that people wanted to visit once travel re-opened.

      https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/13/the-top-10-places-well-heeled-travelers-are-booking-for-the-holidays.html

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      • Anonymous says:

        The other islands will be opening first and people are looking to travel. Cayman is not a high end destination…sorry to say. There are not many villas and the really wealthy do not want to stay in hotels, not even the Kimpton. The rich are looking at villas with multiple staff and a tremendous water view and activities more than visiting hell or stingray city. They would not go for all the construction either.

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        • Wouldn't it be nice says:

          Yeah you are one of those imported experts. Last year we had over 500,0000 stay over tourist x 10 times the amount of the Caymanian population. We need to get back to when only caymanians were the only persons showing tourist the real cayman experience and all the negative persons talking down about Caymanians did not come here. Wouldn’t that be nice.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Do agree with your last part 100%!

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          • Anonymous says:

            @ 8.07….yawn….super yawn….mega yawn….not another Caymanian good, ex-pat bad piece of drivel. Well you’ll get your wish because all of the jobs needing filled will be done by locals right? Cleaners, domestics, bartenders, security guards. Sure, I’ll believe it when I see it.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Hmm, you need to get out more and meet those hordes of people. Many of them can barely afford a drink in the hotel bar due to the price gouging that is endemic in the Cayman Islands.
            Whilst you may think Cayman offers a high end experience, the truth is that it doesn’t. In fact, many other islands far exceed our facilities, beaches and general natural beauty, and certainly our hospitality.
            Geographically we are out on a limb, we don’t attract the lucrative luxury yacht scene because we don’t have close neighbouring islands to cruise around. We do have whoefully inadequate marina complexes, an almost non-existent nightlife and dock/waterside restaurant and cafe culture scene. We also don’t have an attractive capital town worth visiting nor do we have a resort based tourism product that caters for middle class/high spending visitors, (such as Sandals). Even Caymana Bay, with all its Floridian charm, really only caters for a wealthy local market, not mass tourism.
            Basically, Cayman is still an isolated rock that has historical appeal for those who wish to dump tax avoiding money on property and effectively launder it at sale with no nett benefit to the Cayman economy or people. It’s about time a local ‘improvement’ tax was imposed on all sales and purchases of property not owned by a full time resident. This cash should go directly into a local a welfare budget for the local people. The very rich who use these islands for their own enrichment and often nefarious gains, should be made to pay for its social improvement.
            Our best and only real asset is our underwater experience, but even that is being destroyed by over subscription and over fishing.
            High end tourists don’t want to be ‘educated’ in a culture based upon the slaughter of turtles, a few ‘fishermen’, a mythical ‘seafaring’ tradition and a pile of iron shore called ‘Hell’.
            If the ‘real Cayman Experience’ is based upon the current fleet of dangerously unseaworthy and uninsurable boats sitting on the Sandbar or at Starfish Point, leaching gallons of obnoxious chemicals into the ocean from sunscreen and diesel, then we are in a bad place.
            I suspect your 5 million stay over total is a typo, however, there can’t possibly be 50k Caymanians, because if there were you wouldn’t need 30k work permit holders. Also, when Caymanians decide that service isn’t something they are born to receive, but also to give, perhaps they will be better equipped to foster a more local tourism product that puts them front and centre.

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            • Anonymous says:

              One of the best comments I have read so far. Definitely worth thinking about and implementing.

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          • Anonymous says:

            That was last year. Those same 500k aren’t going to have the money to come again on the top 2% will.

        • Anonymous says:

          My American friends stayed at the Kimpton and they were raving about the place. They would be defined as wealthy, but want to stay there again for a family vacation.

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          • Anonymous says:

            “wealthy” is subjective. I might be considered wealthy to some, but hardly in my eyes. While the Kimpton is probably one of our nicest resorts on the island, it’s somewhere I have stayed on staycation and I thought it was just okay. I’ve also stayed at some beautiful high end places in the world that were amazing to me, yet not to others. So there you have it.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Then they need to spend more money and go around the world. The Kimpton is nice, but will never be in the super luxury market for the very wealthy.
            Those kind of wealthy go to private islands, stay on privately chartered yachts or stay in 5* plus hotels and resorts.
            And FYI, they don’t want to lay alongside the rest of us at a communal pool or beach bar.

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            • Anonymous says:

              Would be fine to lay alongside others as well as other like minded to enjoy a drink. Service is utmost and fine furnishings and linens.

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          • Anonymous says:

            The service there is terrible!! No way this is true, unless they tipped so much the service people were crawling all over them.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Certainly know a number of wealthy Americans from NYC who stay at the Ritz Carlton with their families one or two weeks every year and have been coming back for years.

            If they did not value the experience why would the come back every year?

            • Anonymous says:

              I have regulars for a decade I would say come each year same time. It’s their second home. For the amount they have spent for the accommodations they could easily have bought a decent place of their own. Why wouldn’t you go back to a place you know so well that you considered it home?

        • Anonymous says:

          You don’t know what you’re talking about. Geez.

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        • Anonymous says:

          They actually bring alot of their own staff. Nanny’s (1 per kid, drivers and personal chef)

    • Anonymous says:

      Bang on. High end stay over tourism is Cayman Islands future. We need to distinguish ourselves from the low end like Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Cuba.

      Wish our political leaders could get some real vision on our tourist market.

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      • Anonymous says:

        We really aren’t Hawaii or Bahamas. We don’t have waterfalls or tree frogs. We offer top scale pricing for midrange deliverables, on a middle-class arid hot diver island. We managed to get away with that unbalance for decades because of the added cachet of stealthy business opportunities that paired nicely with the recreational stay over cover. With the quiet and long death of “tax-evading asset protection” private client business, we haven’t adjusted the old pricing scheme, and remain a weird basket of disappointments, all too expensive for what they really are. We need to be honest and adjust our model to the mid-high 3-4 star “diver-diner-sunset” traveller experience, which also fits with the middle-high income resident population. There are also those old relics of the past Tourism industry that still fantasize there is an industry of secrecy going on, as if to justify the continuation of this skewed pricing.

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        • Anonymous says:

          I don’t agree entirely. I believe the target market is upper middle class. The largest transfer of generational wealth is taking place right now and it is creating a whole new upper middle class that are spenders on experiences. Within that group are enough individuals, couples, and families who value some of Caymans softer strengths I’d argue. The ability to walk the entire length of 7MB. Safe- relative to where they live and other destinations. Convenient airlift, at least pre CV19. Beautiful swimming and water access, ideal for families and generational vacations. No hawkers or pedlars on the beach.

          Cayman’s relatively low density of accommodations keeps the beaches feeling uncrowded for the most part- the exception being when cruise ships are in port en masse. However if the cruise industry is slow to recover, the island can strengthen its position as a upper middle class destination for stayover tourism. The question will be will we seize the opportunity?

          Smaller more intimate group sizes for excursions are also an attractant for visitors of this type. Good dining helps.

          Not everything Cayman can and does offer is perfect- I accept that. Let’s remember our strengths, while working to improve our weaknesses= Increase Caymanians in the tourism sector. Resolve traffic (fewer cruise shippers will aid this I believe). Resolve the dump.

          Let market forces adjust the prices. Cayman has benefitted from other islands who are recovering from Hurricane damage in 2017 onward. That displacement of market options is decreasing and that will shift demand and likely impact prices downward. Some guests will of course have fallen in love with Cayman and continue to visit but many are likely to return to their previous favourite destinations for a multitude of reasons. I expect there will be a reset of pricing coming out of CV19 and then we’ll see where demand takes it. Cayman might be pleasantly surprised. Here’s to a smooth and orderly recovery!

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        • Anonymous says:

          Wow! You must just love it here…sic.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Cayman has a beautiful beach- a peaceful vibe( minus the recent construction and traffic), basically safe and easy to travel around. The last few years the price increase was becoming hard to justify. Lower prices to fit what people really get. GC needs some more night time entertainment ( especially now w/ places closing i. e. Royal Palms etc). Music, weekly festivals like Bermuda’s Harbour nights should be in the plans. Something to do after dinner besides a bar.More Caymanian in the hospitality field would be nice, too instead of meeting all the other countries daily. Weekly boat parties ( w/ or w/ out alcohol at night would be different.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Thanks for the gobbledygook, but one factor determines what you claim is “skewed” pricing, and that is market demand. Anybody who tries to book a room anywhere in Cayman during the first week of January compared to the first week in July can tell you that.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Calm down, most people that I know that go to Hawaii or Costa Rica or wherever love Cayman just as much… but if we’re going to ruin it with disgusting cruise ship tourists they won’t.

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        • Anonymous says:

          And a casino

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        • Anonymous says:

          No we don’t. The hotels were nearly fully booked during our last high season.

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        • Anonymous says:

          No waterfalls but no shortage of tree frogs.

      • Anonymous says:

        We need to step up the customer service tenfold! Princesses expect ALOT!

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      • Anonymous says:

        AND we need to be open on Sundays. I find it charming that Sundays are closed, but the tourists complain all the time and can’t believe it.
        They see it as backward. The private jet guests say that.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Been coming down there for years and while I enjoy things closed on Sunday, it is the closing at midnight on Saturday that I think is a bit backwards. Totally understand it’s your custom, but after watching the sunset and a nice dinner you just get to a place for a drink and a dance and it’s “ last call” 😢

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    • Anonymous says:

      The free market in the Caribbean will cut hotel and condo costs and rentals until they come back in 3 or 4 years.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Absolutely; this is a horrible time to buy a condo or hotel investment room; if you can wait it out for six months to a year, I think you will be happy with your choice. If you’ve just purchased a place, I hope you got a killer deal on it otherwise you’re going to be kicking yourself in the bum (and for this comment I’m referring to the middle-class houses and condos like Vela and the older places along West Bay Road; obviously the wealthy are still going to be building spectacular houses and condos that won’t be impacted by this pandemic but that’s not the average Caymanian or resident worker).

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      • Anonymous says:

        9:41, Agree, but certainly hope we don’t get hit by a big hurricane soon. Atlantic is at warmest temperature ever for May which is not a good sign.

    • Anonymous says:

      CIG is thankfully not in charge of the big hotel brands, condo boards, and/or any rental units. They, like everywhere else on the planet, need to wait for an approved WHO-IATA screening standard for international flights, and more discussion on how rules might apply to protect hotel guest and resident safety.

      Canada is long overdue to have its credit rating slashed. They also face their first FATF review in years, the last one (pre-Cannabis economy), they barely fudged their way through, failing in several important categories. Poor corporate governance, disbanded RCMP FCU, Trudeau pogey giveaways, and Cdn Crude near shuttering, their currency faces a big devaluation.

      That would spell a smaller market of Canadians willing to fly here, and a new tourism product competing for the same USA tourism dollars. Maybe the USA prints more money, and acquires part of northern swathe of Canada and Greenland before this is all over.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Agreed til your last sentence. LOL

      • Anonymous says:

        Luckily Canada provides only a small percentage of tourists here and many of the ones that do come are often staying with friends who are working here, so not they’re not big budget hotel tourists anyway. If the Canadian dollar tanks though, we’ll have another influx of Canadians wanting to work here and that could be a good thing when we’re looking to build up the population again.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Oh god, more complaining canadians.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Lots of wealthy Canadians over sixty years old with disposable income who love to spend their money in the Cayman Islands. The current situation is not going to impact them financially. However, cannot say that for the younger Canadian generation.

      • Anonymous says:

        10:14, Canadians would never pay the ridiculous private health insurance costs that Americans put up with, also quality of life is better in Canada for the average Joe.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You missed something. Revenue Canada has quadrupled their number of auditors that are going after Canadians off shore who are avoiding taxes. They have already caught a couple of big fish on Grand Cayman. Be careful, you might be next.

    • Anonymous says:

      We don’t need volume we need quality. Our rooms were full when the price was high no need to slash prices. Large islands can pursue cheap large volume tourism but we don’t need to

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    • Anonymous says:

      How about a slew of serious specials for the coming couple of years to build up the stayover crowds? This is the only way the tourism market is going to rebound in the Caymans.

  20. Anonymous says:

    Another sign from God that Cayman must reset it’s tourism model and embrace Eco-tourism. Go green embrace quality over quantity tourism for a better experience and stop issuing licenses for water sports operators.

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  21. Anonymous says:

    Thank you CPR for fighting the good fight. The country owes each of you for stopping Alden Moses Joey and this unity government

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  22. Anonymous says:

    So Mo$e$ is being very very quiet about all of this. Verdant Isle Partners also very very quiet about all of this.

    Remind me again where the $250 million was coming from.

    While I do expect that the two leading culprits of the cruise port fiasco (Mo$e$ and Aldart) will get reelected. We the public will be waiting until you two greedmongers try to revive up the cruise port issue during the next administration.

    And oh yeah, Mo$e$ quit the cruise thing in Cayman Brac. Just a handful of tourists walking from the dock to buy a bottle of water and walk around West End.

    For the Caymanians employed in the cruise related industry I hope and pray that you find other work and don’t have to become reliant on social service programmes. For the work permit holders – thank you for your service to the local industry, may you have a safe trip back to your home country.

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  23. Anonymous says:

    if they can survive the next 6 months….cruise industry will be back to normal…
    the business model is sound.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Both Carnival and Norwegian are already taking bookings for late 2020.

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      • Anonymous says:

        yep…lots of nonsensical hate blinding peoples opionions here

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        • Anonymous says:

          There might be dribs and drabs of stupid low-end Americans coming on cruise ships but if you think boatloads of cruise tourist are coming to our shores late this year, you are blinded by stupidity. The median age of a Caribbean cruise ship passenger is over sixty. It would take either a death wish or a special kind of stupid for someone over 60 to go in a cruise ship this fall.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Tempted to agree with you but some of these cruisers aren’t too bright. If that kind of vacation appealed to them before it probably will again. It may be a little longer than the end of this year, but then again, memories are short.

            • Anonymous says:

              Remember those people rushing to buy tickets even as countries were closing their borders, then crying big tears on TV because they were sick on a ship full of coronavirus sufferers! Can’t fix Stupid.

      • Anonymous says:

        Lol, wow, just wow. Let it go, they’re done

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      • Anonymous says:

        That’s called ghost booking to grab deposits for liquidity purposes.
        No one will be welcoming the US any time soon, especially since their 18th century ‘freedoms’ mean more than other people’s right to life, (Covid-19, guns, drugs….). They will remain within their own borders where they can be as ‘free’ as they like infecting each other instead of us.

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        • Anonymous says:

          BUT after months and month they will have mass immunity as 60% will have had it.
          We will be still waiting a vaccine and other Caribbean Islands will be OPEN.

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      • Anonymous says:

        which will become creditors when they declare bankruptcy.

      • TRON says:

        LOL> They can book all they want, doesn’t mean they’ll be sailing.

    • Anonymous says:

      really… go buy some shares then, I wouldn’t though. They’ve just taken 3.3bn of debt at 11.75% with declining revenue and no certainty as to when recovery will happen (google second wave). If that’s sound business then we obviously went to different schools.

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    • TRON says:

      If grandma had balls, I’d call her grandpa. Lots of ifs. Supposedly Carnival is good for one year without any revenue. Will the world be back to normal in a year’s time? Probably not. So I doubt very much that the cruise industry will be anywhere near normal – not when you have 30 million unemployed and deeply in debt.

  24. Anonymous says:

    And I only thought the big ships was going to break a Crankshaft and be Scrapped.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Right now the scrap value of the older vessels is probably more than their worth as usable assets. That’s what the airlines are finding with their older fleets. Scrapping them gets a quick payout with no future liabilities for their upkeep – no rocket science is it?

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