NCFC will address impact of decreasing cruise calls
(CNS): Premier André Ebanks told parliament that when the new administration took up office after the election, they found no plans in place to address issues relating to a decline in cruise ship passengers in the event of a ‘no’ vote — which was the emphatic result. Answering questions from opposition MPs last week about the results of the referendum, he said the tourism ministry is working on such plans because the government must take care of its people.
Ebanks said that since stayover numbers remain strong, the ministry was seeking ways to help Caymanians and businesses tap into that market. He said the result was the “exact scenario those of us who were not proponents of a referendum bill” thought would happen. Nevertheless, the tourism minister and his staff are now compiling short-, medium- and long-term plans to assess the options.
Assisting in the transition to stay-over tourism might include providing financial assistance, either through the Cayman Islands Development Bank or the Business Development Centre. There might also be training programmes to help Caymanians and local businesses transition to other industries.
“Give us some time to be able to put those strategies forward because at the end of the day, we have to take care of our people economically,” Ebanks said.
Tourism Minister Gary Rutty told parliament that he was not aware of any further decline in cruise calls for the two years following the general election. Answering questions from the previous tourism minister, Kenneth Bryan, he said the projections for cruise calls for 2026 and 2027 were already set before the election.
However, Bryan, the deputy leader of the opposition, said he had received an email from the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands indicating that there would be further cuts in ship calls for next year.
“Oh boy! I’m a bit concerned now… because I’ve had the manager of the port authority send me an email up to last week suggesting that there has been a reduction in the projections for next year, so there seems to be a communication problem between the ministry and the port authority and the reality of what’s happening in the cruise industry,” he said.
Speaker Ezzard Miller asked Bryan to circulate a copy of that email “because I think you’re seriously questioning the veracity of the minister”. He agreed to do so, but the email was not read out.
Bryan also asked Rutty if he intended to track the projected loss in numbers. Rutty said he would do this through both the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association and PACI.
The forecast decline in cruise numbers has now begun, following a relatively strong start to the year. According to the most up-to-date statistics on the PACI website, during the first three months of 2025, cruise passenger numbers were higher than in 2024, with around 455,000 arrivals compared to around 410,000 during the same period last year.
But over the last three months, the headcount has begun to decline. Between April and the end of June this year, around 186,000 passengers arrived in Grand Cayman on board a cruise ship, while 233,000 had visited during the second quarter of 2024, pushing the half-year figures down for this year, though not as drastically as had been predicted.
Cayman had well over half a million cruise passengers in the first four months of the year, a 13% increase from 2024.
Tourism Director Rosa Harris has said that Cayman is not out of the cruise business yet, and the smaller ships in the region are still calling on this destination. Speaking to Compass TV last week, she said cruise arrival numbers were expected to remain stable, even as numbers fall, which is a trend across the region and not unique to Cayman.
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yes working with cruise tourism we the beggars do no that when it come to this time of year it is slow with cruise ships coming here but what i am saying is we also no there’s a lot of pre booked also on those ship but i still never saw crise ships coming this time of year so poor.for july we have ships for 11days only come august just as bad come september 6days out of 30days very very poor,& very sad indeed.theirs a lot of people that depend on cruise ships but then tourism minister call for mote stop over tourist & he forgot all of the people that go out to beg to feed & take care of their family it was kenneth Bryan & his comrade who mess up cruise ships business here.
The first job is firing Rosa Harris, spender of tens of millions on desperate unresearched boondoggles, and thoroughly out of depth in her role for years. Reject the FCCA lobby group false and self-serving narratives that have contaminated political thought for decades, resulting in a stagnant eyesore of a town. Then recognize for once that reduced cruise calls, and fewer zero-spend milling zombies, is a quality of product/life/control improvement for a much-vacated George Town, that also aligns with the overall target product offering. It’s not an impact to be mitigated. Lean into it. Incentivize the conversion of the numerous unsightly tacky retail buildings/tenants into higher end (and truly) special duty free economic zone shopping, restaurants and sophisticated entertainment to bring stay-over guests and residents south. Invite in the international high end luxury labels that should want to move their product at a duty free price point, as they do in Panama, Bahamas, and Europe. Provide time-metered parking on the streets. Allow international permit-waivered/expedited buskers/musicians/bands to perform in the special zone, and maybe offer other street entertainment, craft tables into evening hours. Repaint and decorate the exterkor of the 1970s era buildings. Fasten up rows of decorative flower boxes, suspended umbrellas, or other gravitating Insta-ready motifs along Cardinall (finally some pedestrian shade), and Fort Street. There’s a whole planet of destinations where we might see and incorporate their choice winning ideas while incorporating them with a Caymanian twist. George Town is a stagnant eyesore that needs an injection of special economic purpose to get it going again. Legislate it as a proper duty free shopping zone, where prices for goods reflect the duty exemption.
I have been working with cruise ships for the past twenty years & believe you me it is the worst i have ever seen it even after covid cruise ships coming to cayman was better.
Is this decrease a result of cancelled – since the elections – stops by cruise ships or lines, or is it a result of a pre scheduled shift as ships are repositioned for the summer months? That’s what we need to know.
It’s honestly heartbreaking to see what’s happening to Cayman’s cruise tourism industry — especially when you work in it, rely on it, and know firsthand how many local families it supports.
There’s a small but loud group in this country — including politicians and media outlets — that seem determined to tear cruise tourism down. They’ll say anything to make it look bad, even when the facts say otherwise. It’s all spin, double-speak, and personal agendas — and in the process, they’ve helped destroy a major part of our economy that was once thriving.
The truth is, cruise visitors do spend money — not just on t-shirts like some people like to joke, but on excursions, food, shops, and services. Many of these businesses are run by everyday Caymanians, not foreign investors. That money stays here. It pays school fees. It feeds families. It builds a life.
I’ve had so many customers over the years tell me, “I came to Cayman first on a cruise, and now I come back here for vacation.” That says everything. Cruise ships are often the first introduction to Cayman — the first impression that makes people fall in love with this place. Why would we want to shut that door?
Meanwhile, the overnight tourism everyone praises isn’t the magic solution they claim it is. Most of that revenue ends up in the hands of overseas hotel chains and their imported staff. It drives up demand for housing, utilities, and food — and the real benefits barely reach the average Caymanian.
We should be strengthening cruise tourism, not sabotaging it. But instead, we’ve let it fall apart — no proper cruise dock, rising fees, unpredictable tendering, and a constant negative narrative. And who pays the price? Not the politicians. Not the bloggers. It’s people like us — Caymanians working in the shops, driving the buses, running the tours — the ones on the front line.
It’s not about choosing cruise or stay-over. We need both. But cruise tourism has been left to wither while people pretend it’s worthless. It’s not. It matters. It feeds us.
And it’s about time we stood up and said so.
10:37–
Your emotional appeal is noted, but, c’mon, let us deal in facts, not nostalgia. The idea that cruise tourism is being “torn down” by a small group with agendas is simply false. The criticism of cruise tourism is not personal, it is structural and addresses systemic issues. It is rooted in real, measurable harm to Cayman’s economy, environment, and social fabric. What is truly heartbreaking is watching this country cling to a low-value, high-impact industry model that benefits a handful while burdening the rest of us native sons and daughters of the soil.
Cruise passengers spend the least and take the most. That is not spin–it is data from the Department of Tourism. The average cruise visitor spends a very paltry sum compared to the average stay-over visitor, often with foreign-owned tour operators that offload locals for cheaper subcontractors and expat workers. Meanwhile, overnight guests spend more than ten times the amount, with longer stays, broader spending, and more consistent returns for local businesses.
Your emotionally-charged claim that stay-over tourism primarily enriches foreign hotel chains ignores the vast number of Caymanian entrepreneurs who benefit from longer, higher-value visits—restaurants, transport, villas, shops, and services.
Cruise tourism is hardly the lifeline you pretend it is. Much of the revenue ends up in the hands of foreign-owned cruise lines that dictate prices, control bookings, and take a massive cut before a dollar even reaches Cayman. Local operators are left scrambling for scraps in a race to the bottom, underpaid and undercut. Even locally owned operators and vendors rely heavily on work permit staff rather than Caymanians. The ships bring thousands ashore for a few congested chaotic hours, overwhelming infrastructure, straining public services, and leaving behind little more than garbage and frustrated drivers–all while the real profits sail away.
As for environmental and other impacts, pretending it is all “spin” is dangerously irresponsible. The reefs do not lie. The overcrowded streets of George Town do not lie. The demand for work permits does not lie. Years of over-tourism have done more damage to this country’s infrastructure, social fabric and environment than any “negative narrative” ever could.
Cruise tourism has not been sabotaged. It has been protected, coddled, and subsidised at too great a cost proportional to its contribution. And still, it underdelivers, mostly benefiting those with the loudest voices and the most to lose if Cayman finally starts demanding more from its tourism sector.
This is not about shutting doors. It is about closing the floodgates on a system that is failing Caymanians. The idea that we need to “stand up” for cruise tourism is laughable–it has been shielded by successive governments while stay-over infrastructure has quietly done the most massive heavy lifting. The real question is: when will we stop defending the status quo just because it is familiar?
Many tourist destinations are reassessing cruise tourism and this includes islands and smaller coastal regions heavily dependent on mass tourism but now facing similar challenges. Among those are:
Barbados has recently expressed concerns about the environmental strain and fluctuating benefits from cruise tourism and is exploring ways to balance cruise arrivals with sustainable development goals.
The Bahamas, with its fragile ecosystems and small communities, has started tightening regulations on cruise ship traffic to prevent overcrowding and environmental degradation.
St. Lucia and Dominican Republic have also been reviewing their cruise policies, recognizing that the large daily influx of cruise visitors often overwhelms local services and delivers uneven economic returns for residents.
Key West, Florida, has introduced strict limits on the number of cruise ship arrivals allowed each day. This measure aims to reduce overcrowding and protect the fragile marine ecosystem surrounding the island, which has suffered under the pressure of constant cruise traffic.
Malta, another island destination, has imposed restrictions on cruise ship docking to manage overcrowding in its historic ports and safeguard its cultural heritage sites. The influx of large numbers of cruise passengers had begun to strain infrastructure and degrade the visitor experience, forcing authorities to intervene.
Santorini in Greece has also limited daily cruise ship arrivals to prevent overwhelming its small island infrastructure and to protect the quality of life for local residents. The constant surge of day-trippers from cruise ships had created congestion, environmental wear, and social tensions, prompting policymakers to take action.
Bermuda has taken steps to reduce the number of cruise ship visits while encouraging longer-stay tourism instead. This strategy is intended to improve the overall economic benefits for the island and reduce the environmental stress caused by the rapid turnover of thousands of cruise passengers each day.
Hawaii has been discussing limits on cruise ship numbers alongside stricter environmental regulations. The goal is to protect delicate coastal ecosystems and ensure tourism growth is sustainable and benefits local communities, rather than just catering to high-volume cruise traffic.
Tourism should serve us Caymanians, not exploit us. If an industry cannot evolve to do that, then it is not worth saving in its current form.
It is my opinion that there will be no “decreasing frequency” of cruise ships. Yes, there will be an increase in mega-ships. I believe they need us far more than we need them; where else is their mid-point? It seems to me that the cruise ship companies have been making demands and veiled threats in an attempt to leverage the Cayman Islands into a more favourable position for THE CRUISE COMPANIES, at our expense.
Some of the cruise companies sell tours which don’t appear to have many Caymanians employed. What do we get out of it, other than selling a few t-shirts, and a lot of garbage on our already troubled shores?
I think we will see the same frequency as we ever had. If there is a place for government finance and expansion, it might be to build and employ people who offered more to both the cruise ship and overnight visitors, beginning in the George Town area. We only have to look as far as Cancun/Playa Del Carmen, St. Kitts with its ziplining and curated hiking trips, and many others.
We need services in George Town, not an expensive dock to bring people faster. Lots of bathrooms, and small, walk-in places where a person can get a drink and a meal. I think it should be law that higglers can’t approach anyone, but allow people who are interested to come to them. I don’t think higglers should be allowed to virtually take over the entire beach.
For her career of misfired campaigns and absolute cluelessness, Rosa should be replaced before next high season. “Not out of the cruise business yet”, is a truly reckless statement coming from the head of the Department of Tourism. At its peak, mass cruise tourism was never a material earner for the CIG. Repelling the redneck spring breaker niche, if that’s the intention, would be welcome news for the higher end ships carrying our target audience, that generally avoid Cayman if they can, but better align with our product. We should lean into that, and welcome back the higher end ships, with smaller but higher spending passenger loads. There is (finally) an open opportunity to align both cruise and stay over that Rosa can’t seem to grasp.
The Cayman Islands is always behind everyone else. They are starting all the DEI woke stuff when everyone is moving away from that. The same with cruise ships. They are a thing of the past. Most countries are getting away from cruise ships and over tourism. Can we please catch up to the rest of the world that is being eco friendly and stop destroying everything? We don’t even have a proper recycling program. I was so embarrassed to go overseas and not even know what to put in each bin as they separate their recyclables.
Less cruise ships – GOOD / Cola Kenny – BAD.
We need quality over quantity, more cruisers does not necessarily equate to more money.
If the cruise industry is a bucket, fill it with quarters instead of pennies.
DOT is flying around winning awards, but the staff have ZERO Presence on the ground.
They don’t visit, check, talk..and so they don’t care or know what’s really happening!
Done really need bellmen and concierge from Nepal, India, Africa, Jam etc?
These are jobs for retirees or teens!!
And, Never mind that 75%of tour drivers are on Permits, and telling guests crap every day!
None of these common permits should be allowed.
But then, DOT or Ministry don’t even look in these directions.
I don’t get it, for years and years this has become known as Cayman Islands slow season in regards to cruise tourism calls so whats with all the dramatics?
Same populist bullshit as everything else so far.
‘We don’t need no stinkin’ cruise ships’
Says the white expat lawyer living in a multimillion seven mile beach condo smh
Says the retired Caymanian who can’t get through town or enjoy his beach in peace and quiet.
Says the Caymanian fed up with having GT taken over by 3rd world low income earners herding low wage tourists to T shirt shops owned by foreigners.
Says the retired planning his next cruise.
Still insane to me that we are letting groups like ACT run around saying this is because we don’t have a pier when similar declines in numbers are happening across the Caribbean regardless of infrastructure.
These cruise lines increasingly are attempting to keep passengers on their ships at sea, look at current cruise itineraries for Carnival, Royal Caribbean or MSC they often spend 2-3 days at sea regardless of length of the voyage – and even when they are in ports they are increasingly focusing on cruises to their own resorts and islands where they don’t have to split profits with anyone onshore. They are interested in their own profit streams, the more time they spend at sea, and in their own ports the better for them.
Thankfully the people of the Cayman Islands summarily dismissed the ridiculous arguments by a wide margin – The pro-port lobby has never been more than a loud minority and that was shown conclusively in the referendum.
Cayman is well positioned to shift our focus to stayover passengers which is what we should have spent the past 5+ years doing – instead groups like ACT and CITA and idiots like Ellio Solomon, Kenneth Bryan and Moses Kirkonnell ensured that this country spent years spinning its wheels in the mud with an endless ‘debate’ to subsidize and prop up certain waterfront businesses with a ridiculous project.
Sorry Ellio, Sorry Kenneth, Sorry ACT – the matter is settled but feel free to continue shredding your own reputations on this issue – the rest of us will be turning our attention to issues of actual importance to ALL of Cayman, not just the interests of certain waterfront merchants who refuse to move on from the 1990s.
“no plans in place”
This means the PPM was going to go ahead with the cruise ship piers regardless of the outcome of the referendum
Its a damning indictment of Kenneth Bryan, the man spent 2 years running around screaming that the sky (cruise tourism) was falling and there were no attempts made to address the issue
Speculation on my part but I think a few of them – Ellio and Kenneth in particular deluded themselves into thinking it was going to be a tight result either way and assumed that the Government could take it under advisement but make the choice they felt was best regardless without too much risk.
That plan might have worked in 52%-48% result, but its much harder to justify in a 64%-30% result which is what we ended up with.
Thankfully he is no longer in Government and can spend the next few years out in the political wilderness enjoying the sights.
May we never see his like in power again.
The George Town “ Revitalisation” was for the cruiseship passengers, it certainly isn’t for us locals. Paved pedestrian pathways directly to the dock, traffic cut out from G.T. With nowhere to park. (Cruise shippers don’t need parking, you see? )They don’t need banking or the post office. They don’t need to spend $30.00 each for lunch either, as it’s $10.00 on the ship. But Kenny told everyone this was what we needed to do.
What say you, Kenneth ?
Ooops … Kenny just outed the Manager at the Port Authority and provided the email evidence! Wonder who will talk to Kenny going forward?
The aim of every single cruise line is to retain as much of the passengers’ money on board, so please consider reassessing how much % of the tours the cruise lines get to keep (the exercise was done before, but Caymanians voided it by undercutting each other out of greed).
Also, it is possible for less visitors to purchase more; start by selling less mass-produced stuff. Why buy something here that you can buy anywhere else around the Caribbean, with the only difference being that it says “Cayman Islands” instead of Aruba, Jamaica, etc.? I certainly would not. To top it off,
Isn’t cruise tourism (and tourism itself) seasonal?
Cruise tourism slowing down during the hot Caribbean summer shouldn’t be a surprise and perhaps is not outside the norm. I can’t say for sure, I don’t keep cruise stats.
Kenneth Bryan has circulated the false narrative that this slow-down is directly related to the “no cruise port” referendum, and Govt has seemingly bought in.
C’mon Mr. Premier and Mr. Rutty, please rise above those scare tactics!
It’s also hurricane season. Please, don’t become another Jamaica.
Bit late for that.
You found no plan in place? Shocker.
Kenny doesn’t even plan what he’s going to wear and eat today, let alone plan for the entire tourism industry for the next decade.
All speculation, no one on either side has been able to pinpoint the loss of Caymanian jobs in the cruise sector. if there are job losses then you reduce the number of WP holders. I still don’t understand the concept where we import jobs and put a strain on our infrastructure. There is a job for every Caymanian that wants to work.
Surely it isn’t due to global inflation and people cutting travel to save money!
Not sure if this logic hold true. Inflation is down significantly over last couple years.
Current rates.
US 2.4%. Well below Fed target of 3%.
EU 1.9%
Canada 1.7%
UK bit higher at 3.4% but not too bad.
Probably more due to summer slow season like most every year when it comes to Caribbean cruise.
Talk to real people instead of parroting data, aka, go outside nerd!
Your name suits you well.
I think a lot of people in the US, especially those with families, are being conservative with money right now. People don’t know what each day will bring ( inflation, tariffs, the new bill that passed and people may be losing healthcare benefits etc), so big trips may not be on the horizon at this time.