Cayman Islands won’t be destination in 2021

The Cayman Islands has for years been a top Caribbean cruise destination, but that status will not continue when sailings resume sometime this year. The country’s premier announced this past week that cruise ships will not return to the territory in 2021.

Alden McLaughlin, the Cayman Islands premier, said some tourism activity will resume in March, but that cruise travel will not be a part of the initial equation. He added that he does not anticipate cruise tourism to the country resuming “on any sort of significant level before next year. The cruise ship business is not really within our contemplation at this stage.”

In August 2020, the Cayman Islands became one of the few Caribbean destinations to formally close its harbor to cruise traffic.

The 2021 shutdown will cost the lion’s share of its annual visitors and subtract millions of dollars from cruise-reliant tourism businesses as the Cayman Islands hosted 1.83 million cruise ship visitors in 2019

Virtually all of the major cruise lines operating from U.S. ports have canceled sailings at least through this spring.