Barbados is projecting a big cruise season ahead, Caribbean Journal has learned.
The island’s tourism officials are anticipating a 22 percent jump in cruise arrivals for the 2025-2026 season, according to a press briefing at the recent Caribbean Travel Marketplace conference in Antigua.
The 22 percent jump would come across 467 different ship calls, totaling 857,899 cruise passengers.
So far in 2025, the island is reporting 494,950 passengers.
That comes after the island reported 687,659 cruise passengers in the 2024-2025 season, across 389 calls (including 17 inaugural sailings).
Notably, cruises are starting to expand beyond Bridgetown, with the beach town of Speightstown (one I particularly love) seeing its first cruise berth in more than a quarter century last year.
What are some cool stops on a cruise to Barbados? For starters, I strongly recommend the George Washington House.
