By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

Symphony of the Seas, the newest addition to the Royal Caribbean fleet, made its inaugural call to Port St. Maarten this week.

This was the ship’s first port of call in the Eastern Caribbean after leaving Miami with 6,054 passengers on-board and 2,200 crew.

“I am elated to be here for this inaugural call.  This is indeed another milestone for the port and the destination overall,” said Tourism Minister Stuart Johnson, who led a delegation onboard to welcome the ship. “I take this opportunity to congratulate everybody as we continue to propel our island forward to new frontiers.”

““It was an honor once again as a port and as a destination to welcome RCIs latest Oasis class vessel.  We have been working tirelessly over the past 13-months to assure we continue to move forward as a marquee port of call,” he Johnson said.

The call was the latest in what has been an impressive comeback for St Maarten’s port.

Indeed, six cruise ships carrying almost 20,000 passengers visited St Maarten on a single day on Wednesday, the second six-ship day of the 2018-2019 cruise season.

“The future within the cruise industry is promising as more ships come online and are deployed to the Caribbean,” Port St. Maarten Management said in a statement. “As a cruise destination, we must continue to push in re-inventing and upgrading our product offerings more so now than ever which will translate into increased demand to ‘rediscover’ St. Maarten.