Historic Day at Soufriere: 3 luxury cruises anchor in Saint Lucia, boosting economy

Saint Lucia: The Soufriere Port in Saint Lucia made history on Tuesday with the arrival of three luxury vessels simultaneously. These cruises included Ritz Carlton’s Ilma, Emerald Cruises’ Emerald Sakara and Star Pride of Windstar Cruises and all of these anchored near Sulphur City.

Ilma is the second superyacht in the Ritz Carlton Luxury Yacht Collection, and it is luxury cruise while the two others are also magnificent cruises, having limited passenger capacity and offering a lot onboard including a number of games, spas, pools and much more. 

According to the information, the three cruises brought a combined total of 584 visitors and 655 crew members, and their arrival also marked 48 vessels anchored at the Soufriere Waterfront for the ongoing cruise season. 

While sharing the development, the General Manager of the Saint Lucia Cruise Port Lancelot Arnold expressed his pleasure and said that as more passengers and cruise lines visit the island’s shores, he is looking forward to a continued collaboration with the SRDF that will continue to generate more opportunities for the Soufriere community and will transform the Soufriere waterfront.

Reportedly, the passengers and crew members from all the three cruises came ashore and explored the island and its various offerings. The passengers gave a huge business to the local vendors including taxi drivers and tour guides, injecting alot in the overall economy.

The Saint Lucia Cruise Port, in partnership with the Soufrière Regional Development Foundation recently completed temporary repairs to the dock which sustained major damage in July 2024 because of the passage of Hurricane Beryl. 

This temporary reinforcement allowed for safe access and limited mooring of vessels which improved the ease of movement during the cruise season. The port officials have also unveiled plans for the full restoration of the dock which will be completed when the current cruise season concludes.

The port officials said that it would continue to partner with the government and other major stakeholders in the redevelopment and enhancement of this culturally significant area.