MIAMI, Feb.18, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL;
NYSE: CUK), the world's largest travel and leisure company, today
announced it will begin welcoming guests at its newly developed
Amber Cove port in the Dominican
Republic beginning October
2015. Six of Carnival Corporation's nine brands will call on
Amber Cove along the country's Amber
Coast – a partial filming location for the original Jurassic
Park movie – to give cruise passengers another exotic location to
explore as part of their vacation experience.
With the opening of the new Amber Cove port, passengers will be
able to make stops along the Dominican
Republic's north Amber Coast,
which has not been regularly visited on cruise itineraries since
the 1980s. It will open expanded itinerary options in the
Caribbean, the world's most
popular region for cruise vacations1, and will pair with
the company's Grand Turk Cruise Center only 100 miles to the north
to anchor new central Caribbean
itineraries for Carnival's nine global brands. In looking to the
future, the port is strategically located to be incorporated into
itineraries featuring potential stops in Cuba.
The new $85 million facility
represents the largest cruise industry investment ever made in the
Dominican Republic, and will
feature a two-berth port able to accommodate the largest cruise
vessels in operation today. Carnival Corporation has monitored the
various stages of the port's construction progress with the use of
drones, an innovative development that is being used for
the first time as part of the company's port development process.
The facility, a joint project between Carnival Corporation and the
Rannik family of Grupo B&R, is expected to host more than
250,000 cruise passengers in its first year of operation. It will
provide approximately 430 local jobs.
"The construction of the cruise port at Amber Cove has been an
incredible project for our entire country, as well as the
Caribbean region as a whole," said
Francisco Javier, tourism director of the Dominican Republic. "Carnival Corporation's
investment in Amber Cove has already proven beneficial to the
economy, and we expect the investment to have a positive
long-lasting economic impact. The new port will also give
cruise passengers an opportunity to see another part of the
Dominican Republic, our
Amber Coast, which hasn't been
available as part of cruise itineraries in nearly 30 years. This is
a very exciting development."
The port will open with a visit from Carnival Victory from the
company's Carnival Cruise Line brand on October 6, 2015. Following this inaugural visit,
five additional Carnival Corporation brands are scheduled to make
calls on Amber Cove -- including Cunard's Queen Mary 2 on
November 22, P&O Cruises' (UK)
Azura on December 5, AIDA Cruises'
AIDAvita on December 11, Costa
Cruises' Costa Deliziosa on December
31 and Holland America Line's ms Eurodam on January 19.
Additional ships from the company's brands are scheduled to call
on the port in late 2015 and through 2016 including Carnival Cruise
Line's Fantasy, Splendor, Valor, Sunshine, Conquest and Breeze and
Holland America Line's Nieuw Amsterdam. These visits will consist
of 57 calls by 13 different ships across the six brands taking
place between October 2015 and
April 2016, accounting for more than
155,000 guests during this period.
As the world's largest cruising market – representing more than
37 percent of the global cruise business2 – the
Caribbean is a strategic
geographic region for Carnival Corporation and the overall cruise
industry and is highly popular for vacationers.
This new port facility in the Dominican Republic underscores the company's
focus on creating great vacation experiences, as passengers sailing
the Caribbean will have an
exciting new destination to visit. It will also give Carnival
Corporation's nine global cruise brands the ability to create more
diverse itineraries, another important part of the cruise
experience. More than 60 percent of cruisers are repeat passengers,
and offering robust itineraries keeps the experience fresh and
engaging for them.
"There are several markets that are becoming increasingly
important to the cruise industry, but today the Caribbean is the single largest share of our
business," said Giora Israel, senior
vice president of global port and destination development for
Carnival Corporation. "We are constantly looking for new ways for
our guests to enjoy their cruise experience, and it is always
exciting to add new destinations to our itineraries, especially in
the Caribbean where many of our
passengers have been before. We are confident that our guests will
love visiting Amber Cove, which we believe will quickly become a
very popular port of call for our guests. And because Amber Cove is
easily accessible, it will give our guests a convenient gateway to
the Puerto Plata region, which is spectacular. And importantly,
Amber Cove will allow us to offer our guests a new option in our
Caribbean itineraries."
The opening of Amber Cove adds to the portfolio of cruise
destinations Carnival Corporation has developed in the Caribbean. This includes the Grand Turk Cruise
Center in the Turks & Caicos
Islands, Puerta Maya on the
Island of Cozumel, Mexico, and
Mahogany Bay on the island of Roatan, Honduras. It is one of roughly 60 ports
Carnival Corporation's brands visit in the region.
The Amber Cove port is located in the heart of the Dominican Republic's North Coast just outside
the historical town of Puerto Plata, which was discovered by
Christopher Columbus in the 1490s
and was recently named by Travel + Leisure magazine as one of the
"Best Places to Travel in 2015." This newest Caribbean destination was developed to
re-establish the Dominican
Republic's North Coast as a popular cruise destination – the
last cruise ship to call at Puerto Plata was nearly 30 years
ago.
Amber Cove will feature a waterfront welcome center with a
variety of retail offerings, including a marketplace for Dominican
crafts and souvenirs, as well as a wide range of unique food and
beverage establishments. The port will also include a recreational
area featuring amenities such as a pool, splash zone and green
space areas. The transportation hub -- the single largest component
of the port -- will provide visitors easy access by land and sea to
the surrounding destinations and attractions.
The new port will host one of the most extensive shore excursion
programs available in the Caribbean, offering roughly 40 different
landside experiences including beaches, water sports and special
culinary, cultural and adventure options. Many of these excursion
offerings will come from well-established local operators. Nearby
Ocean World, one of the region's largest marine adventure parks,
offers guests popular ways to experience and interact with a
variety of marine animals.
About Carnival Corporation
Carnival
Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in
the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North
America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised
of Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess
Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises,
Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O
Cruises (UK).
Together, these brands operate 100 ships totaling 212,000 lower
berths with 10 new ships scheduled to be delivered between now and
2018. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates
Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour companies
in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both
the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival
Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be
included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100
indices. Additional information can be found
on www.carnival.com, www.hollandamerica.com,www.princess.com, www.seabourn.com,
www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com,
www.pocruises.com.au and www.pocruises.com.
1According to Cruise Lines International Association,
Inc. 2011 Cruise Market Profile Study
2According to Cruise Lines International Association,
Inc. 2011 Cruise Market Profile Study
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc