Royal Caribbean offers cruises to St Vincent

For the first time in 42 years, Royal Caribbean has begun selling cruises to St Vincent.{{more}}

Royal Caribbean announced last Friday, January 6, that the line’s 2,000-passenger Vision of the Seas will visit St Vincent as part of new 11-night Southern Caribbean voyages out of Fort Lauderdale, USA, scheduled for December 3, 2012, December 24, 2012 and February 4, 2013.

The trips are among 19 new Caribbean and Panama Canal sailings the line has announced for the ship for the coming winter of 2012-13.

The announcement that Royal Caribbean will be visiting St Vincent came the same day that the New York Times included St Vincent on a list of 45 places to go in 2012.

In their Travel section published on Friday, January 6, the New York Times said “the fact that American Airlines does not fly there could explain why St Vincent remains among the Caribbean’s best-kept secrets: a stunningly lush, unspoiled gem of an island surrounded by water cerulean enough to render that of other islands murky by comparison. What there is here — a climbable volcano, dramatic waterfalls, black-sand beaches — is dwarfed by what there isn’t: chain stores, crowds, big hotels.

“Except, that is, for one notably new exception. Buccament Bay, a five-star resort, opened in the fall and boasts more rooms, about 360, than all other hotels on the island combined…. The resort, along with a new international airport that is scheduled to open in late 2013 and designed to handle five times the number of passengers currently arriving at the island, will most likely let the cat out of the bag and attract the long overdue crowds. Get there before they do,” the NY Times advised.

The NY Times endorsement came just one week after CNN, Travel and Leisure Magazine and the Today Show with Matt Lauer all recommended St Vincent and the Grenadines as a top vacation destination for 2012.