Cruise line reviving Bahamas trips from Port of Palm Beach

After pulling three months of hurricane relief duty in the Caribbean, Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line will be restoring its service to Grand Bahama from the Port of Palm Beach.

The 1,900-passenger Grand Celebration, its sole vessel, is expected to resume its two-night cruises to Grand Bahama Island on Dec. 23. The ship has been transformed from housing for first responders and National Guardsmen who helped the U.S. Virgin islands recover from hurricanes Irma and Maria to a leisure vessel with a new adults-only sun deck and a spruced-up casino.

“It was, for lack of a better term, a ‘flo-tel’ under the supervision of FEMA to house the first responders,” said company CEO Oneil Khosa. Besides guardsmen, guests included Red Cross and other relief workers who helped with the rebuilding and recovery effort in St. Thomas.

Now that its contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency is nearing an end, the company is returning to its original mission: providing cruises for short-term vacationers between Florida and Grand Bahama. Khosa said the company has a threeyear agreement with the Bahamas to help generate tourism to the nation’s northernmost island.

In April, the line plans to launch a second ship from the port, the Grand Classica, which will also offer twonight trips to Grand Bahama.

Khosa said he likes his company’s prospects because Florida’s population is still growing and the two-night format attracts first-time cruisers as well as those looking to stretch their