The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Grand Bahama was last night hoping that the blow of losing the Grand Celebration for a second consecutive year will be "cushioned" by continued service from its sister cruise ship.

Government ministers and senior private sector executives said the Grand Classica's presence should minimise the fall-out from losing the Celebration for the next two months, after it was called upon to provide housing for workers restoring gas services to thousands of homes in Massachusetts following the series of explosions and fires that erupted in September.

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, the vessel's owner and operator, in a statement issued yesterday said the Grand Celebration was already sailing to Boston and will "resume normal cruise operations" in December 2018.

It added that the vessel's chartering had resulted in the cancellation of "several October and November 2018 sailings", although the Grand Classica - which will resume its two-night cruises to Freeport from the Port of Palm Beach tomorrow - will take over the Celebration's schedule for the next two months.

The Celebration's chartering for gas supply restoration is a repeat of events from 2017, when the cruise ship was lost for a longer three-month period in similar circumstances. It was then requisitioned by the US government to provide accommodation for workers helping with Hurricane Irma and Maria recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The cruise ship's latest departure represents another blow for Grand Bahama's struggling tourism economy, and is especially ill-timed given that it coincides with the Government's efforts to seek a buyer for the Grand Lucayan - a property where overnighting Celebration guests often stay.

Cruise passengers brought in by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line now account for the majority of Freeport's leisure tourists, and the Celebration's absence also coincides with the Thanksgiving holiday in the US in late November - an occasion that typically marks the start of the winter tourism season.

Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for Grand Bahama, last night said the cruise line had pledged to "do what they can to mitigate the loss" of the Celebration by accommodating already-booked passengers on its sister ship.

In a statement sent to Tribune Business, he said: "The Ministry of Tourism has been informed of a change in scheduled calls for the Grand Celebration for 60 days. This Government worked extremely hard to negotiate the introduction of the second vessel, the Grand Classica, to Grand Bahama. We have seen an improvement since the introduction of the second ship.

"Bahamas Paradise has stated that they will do what they can to mitigate the loss of the vessel for the 60-day period by accommodating the booked passengers on board the Grand Classica. It bears noting that having regard to the Government's success in negotiating with Bahamas Paradise Cruises for a second ship for the island of Grand Bahama, we will not be without at least one vessel to bring in overnight and day passengers."

Mick Holding, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce's president, also expressed hope that the Grand Celebration's loss will this time be "cushioned" by its sister ship, which had yet to begin sailing to Freeport when last year's hurricane-related call came in.

While the Celebration's absence comes during the traditional low point in the tourism calendar, Mr Holding expressed concern that the cancelled sailing dates clearly showed it will not be present for Thanksgiving.

"Fortunately now it's mitigated somewhat by the fact Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line have the second ship," he told Tribune Business. "After Irma and Maria, when the Celebration went to the southern Caribbean, we were left with nothing.

"At least now they have a second vessel which will keep things moving, albeit not at the same rate as with two vessels. We were getting daily visits, so now will it be every other day."

Mr Holding said it was too early to determine the economic impact of the Celebration's two-month absence, as both passenger spending and numbers had not been released. While it was unclear whether both ships had been fully occupied, he added: "At least we've got some cushion now with the Classica.

"There's got to be some impact, but not as drastic as it was following Irma. Things are generally a bit quieter now. The schools are back and Bahamians are not travelling as much as they were. The tourists are not coming as much as well.

"But there's usually a boost at Thanksgiving, so it may impact us there. One thing that it's going to stretch into possibly is Thanksgiving, when our numbers traditionally go up, if it's for the whole of November - which it is from what I saw."

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, in its statement yesterday, said it had "chartered the Grand Celebration to assist with restoration of service to communities impacted by the Massachusetts gas incident".

"The ship will be traveling to Boston on October 1, 2018, to provide housing, if needed, for people working to restore service to thousands of homes. The Grand Celebration will resume normal cruise operations as of December 2018," it added.

"Because of this charter, several October and November 2018 sailings have been cancelled. Individuals that are affected by these cancellations and booked directly with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line can contact our customer service department at 800-374-4363 to review all the options that are available to guests.

"Direct cruise line customers that were booked on cancelled sailings can receive a full refund or reschedule their cruise with a $100 onboard credit. Impacted guests who did not book directly with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line should contact their travel provider."

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line added that cancelled sailing dates covered the whole of October and November. It continued: "The Grand Classica will resume its two-night cruise schedule from the Port of Palm Beach to Grand Bahama beginning on Wednesday, October. The Grand Classica will operate on the Grand Celebration's schedule for the months of October and November.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that this change of schedule has caused, and hope that impacted guests will understand our decision to support a community in need. We will do our best to accommodate as many travellers as possible on remaining October and November sailings."