Carnival to Inaugurate Its Amber Cove Port in October

Cruise liner conglomerate Carnival Corporation & plc said on Wednesday it will begin welcoming guests at its newly developed Amber Cove port in the Dominican Republic beginning October 2015.

Six of Carnival Corporation’s nine brands will call on Amber Cove along the country’s Amber Coast.

As explained by Carnival, the new USD 85 million facility represents the largest cruise industry investment ever made in the Dominican Republic, and will feature a two-berth port able to accommodate the largest cruise vessels in operation today.

Carnival Corporation has monitored the various stages of the port’s construction progress with the use of drones, an innovative development that is being used for the first time as part of the company’s port development process.

The facility, a joint project between Carnival Corporation and the Rannik family of Grupo B&R, is expected to host more than 250,000 cruise passengers in its first year of operation. It will provide approximately 430 local jobs.

“Carnival Corporation’s investment in Amber Cove has already proven beneficial to the economy, and we expect the investment to have a positive long-lasting economic impact. The new port will also give cruise passengers an opportunity to see another part of the Dominican Republic, our Amber Coast, which hasn’t been available as part of cruise itineraries in nearly 30 years,”  says Francisco Javier, tourism director of the Dominican Republic.

The port is planned to open with a visit from Carnival Victory from the company’s Carnival Cruise Line brand on October 6, 2015.

Following this inaugural visit, five additional Carnival Corporation brands are scheduled to make calls on Amber Cove — including Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 on November 22, P&O Cruises’ (UK) Azura on December 5, AIDA Cruises’ AIDAvita on December 11, Costa Cruises’ Costa Deliziosa on December 31 and Holland America Line’s ms Eurodam on January 19.

Additional ships from the company’s brands are scheduled to call at the port in late 2015 and through 2016 including Carnival Cruise Line’s Fantasy, Splendor, Valor, Sunshine, Conquest and Breeze and Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam. These visits will consist of 57 calls by 13 different ships across the six brands taking place between October 2015 and April 2016, accounting for more than 155,000 guests during this period, Carnival said.

“There are several markets that are becoming increasingly important to the cruise industry, but today the Caribbean is the single largest share of our business,” said Giora Israel, senior vice president of global port and destination development for Carnival Corporation.

“We are constantly looking for new ways for our guests to enjoy their cruise experience, and it is always exciting to add new destinations to our itineraries, especially in the Caribbean where many of our passengers have been before,” she added.