Port St. Maarten was chosen by cruisers as the number two port of call in Cruise Critic Cruiser’s Choice 2017 in the top-five rated Eastern Caribbean, Bahamas & Bermuda Destinations despite cruise industry challenges and market fluctuations.
One cruiser comment selected and profiled on the online website of Cruise Critic said: “My favorite island – excellent shopping, multitude of things to do on the island, lots of beaches, restaurants, shops, etc. Very friendly locals,” by kbielecki70.
Rankings are based on member review ratings for cruises taken in the last year. Awards are based on port reviews from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017.
On Wednesday, Cruise Critic announced the winners of its second annual Cruisers’ Choice Destination Awards, naming the world’s top cruise destinations, based entirely on consumer ratings submitted with reviews on CruiseCritic.com. The awards name the top cruise destinations across 15 regions worldwide.
Cruise Critic is the leading cruise reviews and information site which hosts the largest online cruise community in the world. The site receives more than 350,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 500 cruise ships and over 300 worldwide ports, from first-time cruisers to avid cruise fans, who visit Cruise Critic to research and plan their cruises, connect with other cruisers and share their passion for cruising.
Cruise Critic was the first consumer cruise site on the internet, launched in October 1995 by The Independent Traveler, Inc., a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, Inc.
TripAdvisor, Inc. through its subsidiaries, manages and operates websites under 23 other travel media brands, whose sites make up the largest community in the world, reaching 390 million average unique monthly visitors in 49 markets worldwide, and offers advice from millions of travelers, with 465 million reviews and opinions covering seven million accommodations, restaurants and attractions.
“Itineraries are incredibly important to today’s cruisers who are more focused than ever on where they’re going and what they can do while they’re there,” explains Colleen McDaniel, Senior Executive Editor of Cruise Critic.
“Cruise lines have focused on expanding their offerings to quench that thirst for exploration – and this year’s list of winning destinations shows the wide array of adventures cruising offers,” McDaniel added.
Port St. Maarten will continue with its strategic approach with the implementation of its strategic business plan 2019 and investment plan 2021 in order to maintain growth and continue to expand and maintain the cruise port’s position in a global competitive environment, Port St. Maarten Management said on Monday.
Port St. Maarten Management added: “The port’s strategic approach also takes into consideration capacity versus quality and the emphasis is on improving shore excursions and experience rating numbers which every stakeholder within the cruise and tourism sectors have a role to play to maintain the country’s preferred top tier destination ranking.”
No other single resource covers the world of cruising as thoroughly as Cruise Critic. Since its inception in 1995, Cruise Critic has earned the status of being the most influential cruise site on the Web, and an innovator of consumer-oriented cruise travel news.
The site was acquired by TripAdvisor in 2007, and is part of the largest travel community in the world.
Cruise Critic is the only cruise resource to deliver a complete package which offers: Authority as the market leader for consumer cruise information; The world’s largest cruise community; Information and advice on all aspects of cruising; Professional and user-submitted cruise reviews; Cruise planning tools, cruise deals, special offers and more.
