Hamilton, Bermuda (October 25, 2016) – St. George and Hamilton will see sharp increases in cruise calls next year, the Ministry of Tourism, Transport and Municipalities and the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) announced today. Scheduled calls in St. George will surge 300 percent from four in 2016 to 16 next year. Scheduled Hamilton calls will increase 44 percent from 16 to 23. Overall the number of scheduled calls increases from 151 this year to 162 next year.
“Our stakeholders told us it was important to recruit more cruise calls to Hamilton and St. George and I’m proud to say we have delivered,” said Bill Hanbury, BTA CEO. “Our team went out to create and cultivate important cruise industry relationships over the past two years, then worked with the Ministry to close the deals. We know these additional calls may be the difference between make or break for some of our tourism industry partners, particularly in the east end.”
In addition to the dramatic increase in calls, Norwegian Cruise Line has planned to provide two tenders to transport their guests between Dockyard and St. George next year. The carrying capacity of the two tenders is a combined total of 500 passengers. They will work alongside the normal ferry service already operating between the two hubs. The Corporation of St. George and the Government of Bermuda have also partnered to upgrade the existing cruise and ferry infrastructure at Penno’s Wharf.
“With the significant increase in calls and the improvements we’ve made with water transport and maritime infrastructure, 2017 has the potential to be a game changer for the east end,” noted Sen. The Hon. Michael Fahy, JP, Minister of Tourism, Transport and Municipalities. “These luxury brands bring to Bermuda exactly the kind of premium traveller we have been pursuing. I expect 2017 to be a year of busy cobblestone streets, active shops and bustling attractions for St. George. And not far off is a new St. Regis Hotel which will bring increased air visitors to the old town, perfectly complementing the cruise lines we’ve attracted.”
The increase in the number of cruise calls to St. George was made possible through negotiations with Norwegian Cruise Line which was encouraged to increase the number of times its smaller premium brands visited the island. Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas brands will call on St George 12 times in 2017 and on Hamilton twice.
Meantime, also in Hamilton, the luxury brand Viking Ocean Cruises will come to Bermuda for the first time – making two calls with its Viking Sea and Viking Sky.
Other important cruise developments in 2017:

•  Cruise ships also making inaugural calls include Norwegian’s Epic, Le Soleal and Le Boreal
•  The World (condominiums at sea) will make one visit to the Island
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• Bermuda Tourism Authority 22 Church Street T 441 296 9200 F 441 296 9220
• Hamilton HM 11, Bermuda GoToBermuda.com
•  Aida Cruises (German-market cruise line) will return with five calls
•  Holland America Line’s MS Veendam will return to Hamilton, with an increase to six calls in 2017
• from the four in 2016. MS Prisendam will also make one call to Hamilton.
• A number of America’s Cup-related cruises will occur in June 2017. This includes (1) The Fred
• Olsen Line cruise ship Boudicca, scheduled to visit June 22-25. Fred Olsen Line, in coordination
• with the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA), will offer America’s Cup packages for their
• guests (2) Celebrity Cruise Line will make an extended stay of the Celebrity Summit from June
• 22-25 in order for their guests to participate in the America’s Cup offerings. (3) The BTA
• continues to work on other cruise calls associated with America’s Cup.

A total of 408,000 cruise visitors are projected to visit Bermuda in 2017, about the same amount
projected to visit in 2016. The full 2017 cruise ship schedule publishes on the Marine & Ports website
November 1st.