The Port of Montego Bay successfully resumed cruise ship calls, welcoming the Mein Schiff 1, with 2,894 passengers on board, in the first operation of its kind since the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
Under the supervision of the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), the maritime services, terminal operations, and passenger facilitation teams worked smoothly to ensure a safe, efficient, and well-coordinated activity.
The Captain, Giorgos Dimou, highlighted the vessel’s additional role in delivering essential aid items, underscoring the strong collaboration between TUI Cruises and Jamaica’s national recovery efforts.
This visit was part of a homeport operation, where the cruise ship begins and ends its itinerary in Jamaica, bringing additional economic benefits as passengers book local hotels before and after the voyage, dine in restaurants, and engage with nearby communities.
This successful call validates the PAJ’s commitment to operational readiness, structured planning, and maintaining consistent service standards across all national port operations.
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, noted that the ship’s return represented a significant stage in the island’s recovery, observing that cruise traffic had already brought about 32 thousand visitors to the country since the hurricane and was expected to reach approximately 64,000 by the end of November 2025.
Ian Dear, Chairman of the Tourism Product Development Company and a member of the Tourism Recovery Task Force, praised the coordinated efforts of public agencies and private partners to restore the tourist town, which Mayor Richard Vernon, also present at the call, had previously identified as economically dependent on tourism for approximately half of its livelihood.
