Barbados named homeport for Princess Cruises’ 2027–2028 Caribbean season 

Barbados is set to boost its position as a leading cruise hub in the Caribbean following a major announcement from Princess Cruises which announced that it has chosen Barbados as a homeport for its 2027-2028 Southern Caribbean sailings. This agreement will allow travellers to begin and end their Caribbean journeys in Barbados and therefore provide a major boost to the island’s tourism sector.

With over 30 voyages across 15 Caribbean destinations, visitors aboard the Crown Princess and Emerald Princess will experience the beauty, culture and warm hospitality of Barbados before and after their cruise. This exciting development also reintroduces inter-porting between Bridgetown and San Juan and further boosts Barbados’ position as the number one cruise homeport in the Southern Caribbean.

Tourism officials have welcomed the announcement as a major win for the island. Senior Business Development Officer at Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), Tia Broomes, described the agreement as a “super significant win” for the destination and noted that the destination will serve as the second largest homeport in the Caribbean under this agreement.

“I am very pleased to announce the success of our efforts to bring back inter-porting between the Port of San Juan and the Port of Bridgetown… this achievement is counted as a super significant win for destination Barbados with Princess, who will now be conducting partial turn around operations commencing this coming winter,” Broomes said.

The expanded programme will run across multiple seasons with tourism officials announcing that Crown Princess is scheduled to sail from January to March 2027 and Emerald Princess will be operating voyages from November 2027 through March 2028. Itineraries will range from six to nine nights with majority being seven-night cruises designed to showcase the diversity of the Southern Caribbean.

Barbados will join San Juan, Puerto Rico as another boarding hub and this will give passengers two Caribbean departure options based on the itinerary they want. Sailings from Bridgetown will mainly highlight Southern Caribbean routes, with calls at several island destinations across the region.

Based on the cruise line's plans, possible ports of call include Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts, and Tortola and most itineraries are expected to last around seven nights.

Industry stakeholders anticipate that the increased homeporting activity will generate significant economic benefits including higher visitor spend, increased hotel occupancy and greater demand for local services such as transportation, dining and excursions.