At last Panama is a Home Port

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line chooses Panama as base for Carib cruises

“Enchantment of the Seas” will sail from the port of Colon.

Colon Port, in the Panamanian Caribbean, will become the "home port" of the pleasure cruise line "Royal Caribbean International" for Latin America. This service will start December 7, 2008.

The "Royal Caribbean" President, Adam Goldstein said that Colon Port was chosen, due to the increase of pleasure cruise traffic around the world, the sustained development of Panamanian tourism, the geographical position of Panama, the increase of flight connections by Copa Airlines and other companies, that will facilitate the arrival of passengers to cruise ships, and the support of the government and private businesses.

The vessel, "Enchantment of the Seas" and its 2,252 passengers is planning to depart from Colon 15 times, from December 7, 2008 to March 29, 2009. The cruise will sail to Cartagena, Santa Marta, Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire, and then return to its "home port" in seven day trips.

Passengers enjoy the upper deck pool.

The deputy manager of "Instituto Panameño de Turismo" (IPAT), Carl Fredrik Nordström pointed out that "the start of operations of a home port opens a range of opportunities for hotelier investors and will help the growth of the tourist sector".

One of the advantages of taking a cruise from Panama is that you do not have to have a visa to enter the United States. This will attract passengers from Latin America and Europe, who would like to visit the Caribbean islands.