one week into 2025, the port of Red Cape has welcomed two cruises of the Norwegian Cruise Line that have mobilized almost 5,000 visitors in Flintsan emerging destination that is moving towards its consolidation as the main driver of the tourism industry in the southern region of the country.
The reception of cruise Norwegian Jewel yesterday -with 2,376 cruise passengers and 1,154 crew members – constitutes the second of this year and the seventh twelve months after the inauguration of this portwhich already accumulates the arrival of 16,596 cruise passengers since January 4, 2024, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism and official sources.
This boat will soon become one of the many that will dock at its dock: the port The arrival of 78 is already scheduled cruises between January of this year until April 2027, according to the schedule published by Cruise Timetablesa web portal that shows the routes of cruises in more than 147 countries globally.
In this way, the port terminal advances towards its international positioning, a key aspect to attract more than 250,000 cruise passengers that the authorities projected for 2025 and exceed the record of one million by 2028.
This would result in a economic impact of millions of dollars for the province, 3,000 jobs indirect and 10,000 jobs indirect, President Luis Abinader pointed out a year ago, while leading the launch of the first phase of operations of the project.
“I am happy to start the year seeing how the dream of tourism development in the south it becomes a reality that benefits the entire region and the country,” the president expressed on his social networks before the arrival of the cruise Line Rotterdam on January 2, five days before the arrival of the seventh cruise to Flints.
The Norweigan Jewel, from the Norwegian Cruise Line company, became the seventh cruise ship to call port in the first year of operations of the Cabo Rojo port, with 3,530 visitors on board, including excursionists and crew members.
The ship left Tampa, Florida, on January 3, and arrived in Pedernales yesterday at 11:00 a.m., as part of a four-day Caribbean itinerary, which included a tour of the Grand Cayman Islands and Jamaica. The vessel left Dominican waters at 7:00 p.m., to continue its journey through Curacao, Aruba, Cartagena (Colombia) and Costa Rica, until its return to Tampa on January 17.
This vessel will dock again in Pedernales in January, during the 17th and 25th of this month.
Stipulated routes
According to this website, the port of Red Cape It already has a frequency of maritime routes that would allow it to receive between one and four cruises average per month between 2025 and the first four months in 2027.
This year, the arrival of 26 cruises of four shipping lines:
- Royal Caribbean International,
- Norwegian Cruise Line,
- Holland America Line
- Fascinous Coast
Both Holland America and Fascinating Coast They are subsidiary companies of Carnival Corporationthe company that manages the port Amber Covein Puerto Plata.
December will be the busiest month in 2025, with five boatsone per week.
For next year, 39 boats will touch port in 2026, while there are already 13 of them that already contemplate Red Cape on their tours of the Caribbean in the first four months of 2027.
