Nassau Cruise Port Receives Six Ships on Two Consecutive Days

Nassau Cruise Port reached a significant milestone this week when, for the first time, the port welcomed six cruise ships per day on two consecutive days. The port revealed the achievement in an Instagram post on December 6.

The news comes as the final touches are being made to a major expansion of the port’s facilities, which began in 2019 and is due for completion in May 2023. The port upgrades are expected to substantially boost cruise ship arrivals in future years.

Nassau Port Welcomes 40K Cruise Guests In Two Days

Nassau Cruise Port on December 5 received two Oasis-class Royal Caribbean ships, Wonder of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas, along with Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Elation, and Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Reflection, and Celebrity Beyond. Together the ships delivered about 21,000 cruise guests to the port.

On December 6, four more Royal Caribbean ships arrived, including Independence of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, and Liberty of the Seas.

Also that day, Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Wish and Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Liberty arrived, bringing another total of about 21,000 guests into the port.

As the biggest cruise ship sailing today, the Wonder of the Seas alone has a capacity for 5,734 guests. The ship, which entered service in spring 2022, is homeported at Port Canaveral, Florida, and sails 7-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. Its visit to Nassau on December 5 was a port call on a one-off, 3-night Bahamas cruise.

With Expansion, Three Oasis-class Ships Will be Able to Dock

Nassau Cruise Port, on track to receive a total of 4 million cruise guests in 2023, is nearing completion of a $300 million redevelopment plan that includes the repair and expansion of Prince George Wharf and the addition of a sixth berth that gives the port the capacity to accommodate three Oasis-class vessels simultaneously and a total of six cruise ships on the same day.

Changes to the docks and guest areas mean that passenger capacity will increase from around 20,000 to 33,000 per day. A three-story cruise terminal building is being built, along with a Junkanoo museum, event and entertainment spaces, a 3,500-person amphitheater, a living coral exhibit, retail stores, and food and beverage facilities. The first time the Nassau port welcomed six ships in one day was on March 2, 2022, according to the Nassau Guardian.

More New Amenities on Tap for Nassau

Nassau also is on track to see the construction of the Royal Beach Club, a resort-style development financed by Royal Caribbean. Located at the western end of Paradise Island near the cruise port, the club will offer an upscale beachfront experience with various activities and entertainment options.

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According to Royal Caribbean, cruise guests will spend more time in Nassau on port calls that could last up to nine hours, including four to five hours at the Paradise Island club, plus additional time for shopping and other Nassau attractions. By 2030, Royal Caribbean guests arriving in Nassau will grow from more than 1 million to more than 2 million per year, the line said.

The project was announced in 2020, along with a similar Royal Beach Club plan for Antigua. There is no estimated date for the completion of either project yet.