Castries – Tuesday, February 05, 2013 – Port Castries welcomed over 101,000 cruise passengers and 60 cruise ships for the month of January, 2013. The Port, which has garnered international acclaim by being awarded the 2012 Porthole Editor-In-Chief Award for “Best Caribbean Port” from Porthole Cruise Magazine and most recently being ranked number 25 in the world, in the Autumn 2012 Cruise Insight The Global Cruise Market Magazine’s “World’s Top 50 Cruise Ports of Call” for 2011, offers cruisers a wonderful first welcome to the island.

Port Castries, which is managed and operated by the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA), welcomes over 300 cruise ships and handles approximately 600,000 cruise passengers per year. For the 2012/2013 cruise season which began in October 2012, Port Castries has welcomed over 375,000 passengers and 168 cruise liners to date.

“The official end of the 2012/2013 cruise season is March 2013, however, Carnival Valor and Jewel of the Seas will be making year round calls which is a 50% increase from last year, so we will continue to see these liners in our port, even after the season has slowed down. On certain days we have had four cruise ships in Port and one tendering either just outside the harbour or in Rodney Bay, Soufriere and even Marigot Bay. Of course those tendering at the aforementioned are smaller vessels with an average capacity of 250 passengers. We are elated that Saint Lucia as a port of call and by extension Port Castries is still ranked high amongst cruisers and cruise lines and we continue to see this with the return of vessels and repeat cruisers” said Ms. Dona Regis, Director of Marketing & Product Development.

Port Castries is the dedicated cruise terminal in Saint Lucia and is home to two Duty-Free Shopping Malls. La Place Carenage Duty Free Shopping Mall which is French colonial style of the 18th and is ideally located near City Center, offers a mix of jewellery shops, clothing, local handicrafts, souvenirs and dining. The other, Pointe Seraphine Duty Free Shopping Complex offers a range of local handicrafts, jewellery, souvenirs and clothing.