Antigua Is Preparing For Its Biggest Homeporting Season Ever 

It’s been a major priority for one of the Caribbean’s quickest-growing cruise ports: homeporting — that is, being a home base for cruise ships exploring the eastern and southern Caribbean. 

Now Antigua is preparing for what officials are calling a potentially record-breaking homeporting season. 

Since it first began homeporting two years ago, Antigua’s cruise port has seen 150 percent growth in homeporting passenger numbers. 

This year, another ship will be homeporting in Antigua: P&O Cruises’ Ariva, which will handle more than 19,000 passengers in St John’s. 

Another luxury cruise ship, SeaDream II, has launched what is now its third season homeporting at Antigua Cruise Port. 

The port has seen “immense progress in establishing Antigua as a homeporting destination in the region,” said Gasper George, the general manager of Antigua Cruise Port. 

“Homeporting operations significantly boost our local economy, benefiting a wide range of businesses and creating opportunities for our people,” Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez said in a statement. “Homeporting operations significantly boost our local economy, benefiting a wide range of businesses and creating opportunities for our people.”