WILLEMSTAD - The “Rhapsody of the Seas”, the cruise ship of the cruise company Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), made its inaugural visit to Curaçao on Wednesday, December 7, with a total of 1,195 passengers on board.  

It is not the first time that this cruise ship visits Curaçao, but as the captain of the ship informed, since the period after the Covid pandemic, efforts have been made to strengthen ties with the ports and it is for this reason that Curaçao Ports Authority (CPA) together with the shipping agent Maduro Shipping, the Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) and the Ministry of Development (MEO) were invited for an inaugural ceremony on board. During this ceremony, in addition to the captain of the ship, representatives of CPA, CTB, Maduro Shipping and MEO also spoke, pointing out the importance of the cruise industry for Curaçao. This concluded with an exchange of placards. 

Sau Bridgewater-Chong of CPA indicates that Curaçao already has a long-standing relationship with the cruise company Royal Caribbean, which is one of the largest cruise companies whose ships visit Curaçao. This year alone, there have been more than sixty ships so far, with more than 180,000 Royal Caribbean passengers visiting Curaçao. Mrs. Bridgewater-Chong also said that she was very happy with the confidence that Royal Caribbean has in Curaçao and that she expects this to only increase.  

The “Norwegian Jewel” of the cruise company Norwegian Cruise also visited Curaçao on December 7, with a total of 1,883 passengers on board. The third cruise ship in our port on December 7 was Holland America Line's “Eurodam” with 1,533 passengers on board. If you wish to be kept informed of the arrival and departure of cruise ships, you can download the CPA Cruise app for more information.