CARIBARENA Antigua & Barbuda

Carib World Travel and Princess Cruises teamed up Wednesday to treat clients and media to a tour, pitch, and lunch on board the Caribbean Princess.

The group of roughly 40 included a number of cruise regulars, and the pitch included a group Mediterranean cruise later in the year. The lunch, in one of the ship’s posh but homey dining areas, gave all comers a taste of what Princess has to offer as one of the more upmarket yet still affordable ships, making for a mixed clientele.

Affable staffer Fernando, part of the ship’s 1,200 strong crew, was the guide through the tour of the ship’s gym, pool area, Movies under the Stars screening area, atrium – where all the on board shops can be found, casino, 900-seater Princess Theatre, and other amenities.

They began near the top, on deck 15, which afforded a bird’s eye view of the city, and worked their way down. With a ship big enough to accommodate 1,500 rooms and 3,000 passengers, it took some time, but the attractive golden-and-rosy décor made for a pleasant stroll.

The Princess ships fall easily into the mega ships category. But like Carib World Travel owner Pamela Arthurton said during her pitch, “it’s a big ship with a small ship feel.” As the tour group found, the design is such that it’s easy to navigate and you could literally lose hours wandering its hallways and sampling its delights.

Arthurton and Princess are both hopeful, of course, that their temporary guests will be back for more. She used the opportunity to market a group Grand Mediterranean Cruise on board the Ruby Princess this coming September – an opportunity for Antiguans & Barbudans to discover Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus, Athens, and Venice.

“We’re hoping we’re going to be able to entice you guys to come out,” she coaxed.

It wasn’t necessarily a hard sell, as this was a group that regularly took to the seas, as Arthurton herself acknowledged; in fact, one man said he’d cruised to every part of the globe save one.

Clearly, more and more Antiguans are discovering that there is another side of the tourist experience, being a tourist oneself; and undoubtedly they’ve taken to it. Sweetening the pot, however, Arthurton said that clients who were able to put groups of their own together for the Mediterranean or other Princess Cruises – enough to sell at least eight cabins – would qualify for a free cruise.

Clearly, Princess is in a courting mood, and now just may be the time to hop on board. As Arthurton explained, it has the appeal of having the youngest fleet in the growing cruise market, with the Ruby Princess being one of its newest. It’s also, she indicated, both adult and child friendly – with diversions like spas, libraries, plus others already mentioned for the adults; and kid and teen programmes freeing the adults up to enjoy them.

“Princess is our preferred cruise line so we recommend them highly,” Arthurton said. After the day’s tour, it was easy to see why.

 

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