The Tribune

BY NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

NASSAU Cruise Port is eyeing “a hell of a way to close out the year” as it expects to be at full capacity, with six vessels berthed, on close to 50 percent of the remaining days left in 2026.

Michael Maura, the Prince George Wharf operator’s chief executive and director, told Tribune Business that 26 of 2026’s remaining 60 days are set to feature six vessel calls, bringing potentially over 30,000 combined passengers into the heart of downtown Nassau on those days. And a further 19 days are set to feature five vessels berthing in the Bahamian capital.

This means that, on 45 or 75 percent of the remaining 60 days in 2026, Nassau will receive five or six cruise ships. Based on these figures, Nassau Cruise Port is targeting a 9.5 percent year-over-year increase in cruise passengers to 6.65m for the whole of 2026, with vessel calls up by 38 at 1,620 compared to 2025’s 1,582.

Mr Maura told this newspaper that further growth, although not at the same rate as 2026’s near-600,000 jump in cruise passenger arrivals, is forecast for 2027. While vessel calls are expected to be flat at the same 1,620, he added that visitor numbers are expected to further increase by around 150,000 to 6.8m in the upcoming year due to increased ship sizes.

Describing the $330m port as having turned in a “solid performance” for 2026, he said: “I think we have something like 26 six-day ship calls in November and December. To your point about closing out the year, that’s a hell of a way to close out the year.

“Business has been solid. We were thankful this year there have been no hurricanes, which are obviously a disruption throughout the year, and have not occurred in 2026. Business has been steady. We’re anticipating growth, moderate growth, for next year that will probably be in the neighbourhood of 6.8m passengers.

“It’s been good. We’ve been very fortunate. We do expect to do better next year. It’s not as if we’re going to do 10 percent better but it is an improved performance and continued growth. At the moment, 2027 looks good. 2027 looks positive. We’re expecting to exceed 2026.”

Mr Maura said much of 2027’s outlook may depend on the pace at which the cruise industry continues to launch larger vessels, how and where those ships are deployed, berth availability and the competition provided by the sector’s own private island destinations.

“The question from a cruise market perspective is the pace at which the industry is launching new ships and the size of those ships, and where those ships will be used,” he explained. “Whether those ships will be dedicated 12-month ships or seasonal ships, and how that compares to the impact on visits to private destinations.

“If the industry’s growth is strong to the point that berth availability continues to be the challenge for the industry, we should expect Nassau Cruise Port and Nassau to continue to outperform prior years.

“But, if we find there is a gap in the berthing of ships or a pivot to smaller ships principally focused on smaller destinations, and destinations outside The Bahamas, we may find our numbers not growing because it could be the ships being assigned to private destinations and not Nassau.”

Herschel Walker, the US ambassador to The Bahamas, recently signalled that the cruise lines are unhappy with the level of taxation the Government is imposing upon them, and the manner and mechanism for how this being achieved. VAT has been imposed on goods and services consumed on the industry’s private islands, along with increased departure taxes, tourism and environmental levies.

Mr Maura, though, said cruise industry chiefs have told him they are committed to complying with all due Bahamian taxes. He added that the only concern revolves around how these are being implemented, and the need for a grace or adjustment period, given that the industry is selling cruises 12 months in advance and has to incorporate tax changes in the ticket price.

“The conversations I’ve been a party to, and I’ve had an opportunity to speak with a couple of chief executives with the cruise lines, have always been that they are committed to pay their taxes that are due,” he told Tribune Business.

“The struggle, I believe, and I think it’s a reasonable concern, is the notice of taxation. Everybody likes to be able to plan. If there are occasions, or situations or circumstances where new taxes are being introduced, the position in the industry with its financial model is they are pre-selling a year in advance.”

Mr Maura said such a grace, or adjustment, period of giving the cruise industry “12 months’ notice of any increase because of their situation, and having to put that increase to ticket prices having already sold a large portion of the ship” would give them a chance “to work into their system” any tax changes.

The Nassau Cruise Port’s Bahama Bay pool experience and Blue Marlin restaurant, the latter located on its western peninsula, are both in operation. The Central Bank, in its latest economic update, said some $3.2m in capital expenditure has been invested by GA Bahamas Ltd “to fund the build-out and operation of food and beverage venues at Nassau Cruise Port”.

GA stands for Grupo Anderson, which operates a number of restaurants at Carnival’s $600m Celebration Key destination in Grand Bahama, plus the Bahama Bay Pool Beach Club and other Nassau Cruise Port eateries such as The Grill Hut and Shore Break.

“I think their focus right now is having to build a brand,” Mr Maura said of Grupo Anderson’s investments. “These are new operations with names that are not familiar to the consumer market or visitor. The operator needs to, and is working, to build a brand around those so that they become names in their own right.

“We’re very fortunate that the volume of guests and passengers that we have coming through the port provides a solid opportunity for those vendors to make some money. Our volumes just exceed the various venues and their capacities. On a day that we have 20,000 guests, the overwhelming majority of those guests are going to experience some part of Nassau beyond the cruise port.

“The operators and venues in the port have to work on their brand and value proposition to attract the customer no different than food and beverage venues outside the port. Everybody has to work for the business. There’s a lot of competition out there.”