St Maarten, August 1. Press release by BlueOceanVillas
Royal Caribbean, a successful and profitable international company, has been in business for more than 30 years, has approximately 40,000 employees, a fleet of 40 ships that carry approximately four million passengers per year and generates about four billion dollars of gross revenue. It is the second largest cruise ship company next to Carnival and is currently developing projects in Honduras, St. Lucia, St. Maarten and St. Kitts.
In St. Maarten, they are developing and converting what is now an industrial area into a waterfront esplanade with hotels, condos, retail stores, restaurants, a yacht marina – something that ultimately will look like St. Tropez.
They are also building a new dock to accommodate Royal Caribbean’s new class of Genesis mega-ships, the first one to be called Oasis of the Seas scheduled for launch in late 2009. The new dock/pier, to be completed at the end of November 2008, will be juxtaposed to the existing Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise Pier that was completed in 2001. The Oasis of the Seas, will be able to dock alongside the yet-to-be named pier.
The Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities expansion will keep the island on the cusp of cruise tourism development, an industry that has seen a decline in the Caribbean in 2007. However, St. Maarten’s numbers continued to grow due to the island’s commitment to development, improvement and increasing its market share.
Carnival is the biggest investor in the project with a contribution of US $34.5 million.The loan from Carnival is repayable in 20 years at 5.9 per cent per annum. To generate income for the port and help facilitate repayment of the loan, Carnival Corporation guarantees approximately 700,000 passengers to St. Maarten annually, while it will have one fixed berth on the pier and three on the existing pier.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has contributed $10 million and has also guaranteed a fixed number of passengers annually. In turn, the company will have one fixed berth on the new pier and one at the existing one.
Refinancing of existing harbour loans by RBTT Merchant Bank for $84 million rounds off the multi-million-dollar upgrade that makes St. Maarten the proud owner of the largest port in the Northeastern Caribbean.
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St. Maarten — With summer just around the corner, many vacationers are on the lookout for attractive and affordable destinations that will go easy on their wallets. We at BlueOceanVillas, offer our guests one free night for every new booking through www.BlueOceanVillas.com at participating villas in our portfolio.
