Carnival Liberty Pulls out of Dominica for Next two Weeks

ROSEAU, Dominica, April 27 2015 – The Carnival Liberty has announced it would stop calling on Dominica for at least the next two weeks.

Tourism Minister, Robert Tonge who described the announcement as “sad”, said the government was doing all possible to ensure the commitment of future visits.

Carnival Cruise Lines only recently began making limited calls to Dominica after the company ended a 21-year relationship with the island in 2010, citing high fuel costs and passenger dissatisfaction.

In a statement this past week, the Tourism Minister indicated that because a number of tours were being sold onshore at significantly lower prices by independent operators, the ship’s tour revenues were going down and visits to other islands were deemed to be more lucrative to cruise lines.

Tonge said that the government was moving to address the issue.

“If this practice is not controlled immediately, we are destined to witness other ships moving towards what they consider to be more profitable ports,” the Tourism Minister is quoted as saying.

He said officials plan to work with stakeholders to address prices and standards.