I came across this article on the guardian.com To sum it all up Royal Caribbean is a huge player in the bahamas cruise ship tourist industry. in 2004 (under PLP watch) Royal Caribbean informed the bahamas government that they were going to start using larger ships in the caribbean including the bahamas. they asked the government to make changes to the cruise ship docking center to accomadate the ships.

according to royal carib they were basically ingnored by the then bahamas government.

three yrs later royal carribean unvieled their newest ship freedom of the seas capable of carrying around 3k passengers, unfortunateltly all of those passenger will never hit the bahamas shores becuase of inadequate docking facilities.

in addition to this royal carib presence in the bahamas may become a thing of the past becuase they are phasing out the present ships that dock in the bahamas (voyager class) and replacing them with all freedom class ships meaning that if the dock doesnt change they wont come to the bahamas period.

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bixex/14507901130492.php

the ironic thing is the bahamas claims to be the leader in tourism, yet under dog countries were able to accept the freedom class ships on luanch day.

I came across this article on the guardian.com To sum it all up Royal Caribbean is a huge player in the bahamas cruise ship tourist industry. in 2004 (under PLP watch) Royal Caribbean informed the bahamas government that they were going to start using larger ships in the caribbean including the bahamas. they asked the government to make changes to the cruise ship docking center to accomadate the ships.
according to royal carib they were basically ingnored by the then bahamas government.
three yrs later royal carribean unvieled their newest ship freedom of the seas capable of carrying around 3k passengers, unfortunateltly all of those passenger will never hit the bahamas shores becuase of inadequate docking facilities.
in addition to this royal carib presence in the bahamas may become a thing of the past becuase they are phasing out the present ships that dock in the bahamas (voyager class) and replacing them with all freedom class ships meaning that if the dock doesnt change they wont come to the bahamas period.
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bixex/14507901130492.php
the ironic thing is the bahamas claims to be the leader in tourism, yet under dog countries were able to accept the freedom class ships on luanch day.


Nassau harbour is natural (except Arawak) and protected, but isn't deep enough for cruise ships. Where it is deep enough, it isn't wide enough to allow these mega-cruiseships from making the turn into/out of the harbour.

The harbour pilots put big fenders at the wharf a few years ago because the dock was actually ripping holes in the ships.

The dredging project was on the PLP Plan in the '02 election. The cruise industry has notifed the gov't in writing for at least the past 7 to 10 years that growth will exceed Nassau's capacity.

Now, time has run out and RCCL and Carnival are moving their itineraries to other places.

This was in the Grand Bahama Info newsletter:

Last week we talked about the state of tourism in the Bahamas, noting that there are many factors that can affect its success, including airlift, hotel room inventory and the clarity of the message that potential visitors receive about our fair country.

Not surprisingly, the topic drew responses from our subscribers; as a sector of our economy that touches nearly every one of us (you'd be hard-pressed to name one segment that is not directly or indirectly impacted by tourism-originating revenue) it is a topic that strikes close to our hearts. (See Letter to the Editor, below.)

We came across one article this week on the same topic that was disturbing. Written from the golf tourism perspective, the article charges that tourism in the Bahamas may be on a downhill turn. It asserts that the Bahamas may be becoming "one of those great Caribbean tourist destinations [that] bites the hand that feeds it. In other words, they get sick of tourists". We recoiled at first, thinking, how rude to suggest that we--who build massive hotel structures (with water parks and fascinating sealife), manicure gardens, come up with catchy marketing ideas, and tasty new "tourist friendly" dishes--do not fully appreciate the tourist that chooses here as opposed to any where else in the world to spend their vacation and their money.

But, then we stopped. Thinking again: Or do we?

When we forget basic manners, don't re-order the goods we know will sell, don't get the espresso machine fixed, don't smile, don't make an extra efforts to know and meet the needs of our visitors, don't paint the walls or clean the bathrooms, don't make their entire experience the best possible--are we not nibbling at that hand that is holding out the nourishment we need? Are we not demonstrating that it is just not worth the effort?

No more thinking needed. We need to change the way we act.


Travel Weekly, an international newsletter, published a very similar article today. The Bahamas has turned from the graciously hosting tourists for money to expecting the money for no services.

We, as Bahamians, are disrespecting ourselves for squandering our future.

i knew carnival was getting bigger ships but they arent as big as freedom class ships. i didnt know they will be pullin out to

why did neither government not do any thing about it.

the cruise ship size are growing so fast will they be able to do something before they pull out. i do believe royal carib is expecting its second freedom ship before the end of the year. plus a hip even bigger than the biggest is currently under construction.

its alll very sad. in the end u have to wonder do they really care. at the end of the day i have to say at a certain point most persons in each of the former governments and political parties see the bahamas as a fat money cow where it is relativily easy to get into the government and be able to line their pockets with the people tourist dollas.

as long as those ships kept comin in and the money kept flowin for them to pinched they didnt care. soon the money will be drying up so they will work hard around the clock to turn the faucet back on.

Nassau's port was recently expanded. The ports ing eneral cannot keep pace with the growth in the size of the ships. This is not the fault of any government, it is the environment that we are in. Go see some of the other Carribean ports - Nassau is very much ahead oof the game in the region

Nassau's port was recently expanded. The ports ing eneral cannot keep pace with the growth in the size of the ships. This is not the fault of any government, it is the environment that we are in. Go see some of the other Carribean ports - Nassau is very much ahead oof the game in the region


really? the only thing i knew they did was install those desparetly needed bumbers. also the bahamas is the only port being dropped. they had about 5 yrs to make the changes, how much more time do they need?

in actality, if the bahamas wants to remain competative in the cruise industry the cruise ship port will have to be moved becuase there is simply no space

There is ample room for cruise terminals, etc if the investment is made into the project. There could be movement very soon in that regard, so let's wait and see!

Nassau's port was recently expanded. The ports ing eneral cannot keep pace with the growth in the size of the ships. This is not the fault of any government, it is the environment that we are in. Go see some of the other Carribean ports - Nassau is very much ahead oof the game in the region


don't make excuses for the plp. They had ample warning and did nothing about it and then lied and told us tourism was on the rise. They bragged about $20 billion dollars throughout the campaign why didn't they use some of that money to expand the docks to keep the tourists we so desperately need?

Quite honestly, I feel we've been getting away with murder as far as the amount we charge for the tourist product we bring to the market.

To me, it's outrageous that we ask for so much and give so little in return. We act as if the tourists are doing us a favor by coming here. I've seen it consistantly on a first-hand basis, and I'm wondering how do we make it in this country with the sub-par service we provide. I feel we just don't care, some feel tourists coming here is automatic, nothing to worry about, 15% grats included anyway, why go the extra mile, or even smile, especially if you and da boss gat a *wibe*.