In Deal Expected to Cost $150-$200 Million, Port Authority and Royal Caribbean Unveil Development Plans for Crown Bay, Frederiksted Pier

MIAMI, FLORIDA, SEATRADE — This year's Seatrade Global cruise industry conference here at the Miami Convention Center this week has arguably been one of the more scaled back events thanks to Covid-19, but that did not stop the V.I. Port Authority and Royal Caribbean from unveiling what was deemed the biggest announcement of this year's event: a multi-year port development deal that the Consortium has learned will cost between $150 -$200 million for enhancements at the Austin Monsanto Marine Facility in Crown Bay, St. Thomas and the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility in Frederiksted, St. Croix.

V.I.P.A. Executive Director Carlton Dowe, who spearheaded the deal with his Royal Caribbean counterparts, opened with remarks that lauded the agreement — whose current phase is a memorandum of understanding (MOU) — as a major victory for the territory's cruise tourism sector. "We're here this afternoon to bring some sort of history back to this territory when we get back home," Mr. Dowe said, excitement exuding his countenance.

Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley spoke of his long ties to the territory, spanning 40 years in September — the same length of time that he's been at Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean itself, he said, has been berthing in the USVI for 50 years, bringing tens of millions of guests over that period, with an annual estimate of 750,000 visitors.

"One of the first ports I sailed into 40 years ago, Sept. 1981 was of course St. Thomas, and to this very day I remember the unbelievable experience that I had sailing into the Virgin Islands," he said. "It's one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean. I've sailed to ports all over the world and still in my mind and heart I think of the Virgin Islands."

For the Port Authority, the MOU bolsters the USVI's tourism product, specifically the cruise sector component, in a hyper-competitive environment. For Royal Caribbean, the agreement extends a 10-year deal inked in 2016 with VIPA and gives the cruise line preferential berthing at the authority's marine facilities in Crown Bay and Frederiksted.

"The Royal Caribbean Group wants to expand its presence in the U.S. Virgin Islands in St. Croix and St. Thomas, so that's one element you will see," said Joshua Carroll, vice president of destination development at Royal Caribbean. He said traditionally the agreement between VIPA and Royal Caribbean tracked visitor volume to the USVI as a territory, however, "we're now actually going to break that out and have specific targets in both St. Croix and St. Thomas as a symbol of our commitment to the growth of St. Croix," he said.

The agreement will focus on community integration, "ensuring that we have local businesses that are really able to prosper and grow as a result of our guest traffic there; it's going to focus on upland development to make sure that our guests have an amazing time, and then sustainable development to ensure that everything we build minimizes any impact on the environment and is able to really add value to the overall ecosystem," Mr. Carroll said.