By
Rebecca Gibson |
Banana Coast, the first mainland cruise port in Honduras, is to host its first large cruise ship on 15 October when Norwegian Cruise Line’s 2,376-passenger Norwegian Jewel arrives in the Bay of Trujillo.
Norwegian Jewel will launch the port’s inaugural season, which is scheduled to include 29 cruise ship calls. To commemorate the event, Banana Coast will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony that will be attended by Honduras’ president Juan Orlando Hernández; vice president Ricardo Alvarez; ministers of tourism, environmental and natural resources, economic development, national security and national ports; and local mayors and government officials. Port representatives will present Bjorn-Ove Hansen, Norwegian’s director of nautical operations, and Captain Sven Kenneth Harstrom, master of Norwegian Jewel, with a commemorative plaque.
Guests will be greeted by local Garifuna musicians and will be able to visit the Jade Museum and jewellery shop, CocoLocos, a duty-free liquor and gift shop, and a variety of kiosks offering refreshments and souvenirs at the visitor centre. Bilingual signs and Spanish-English translators will also be available to facilitate communication at the port.
“Obviously, the community is very excited and we’re prepared to show visitors why Trujillo is a special place,” said Randy Jorgensen, general manager of Grande Trujillo Autoridad, which developed the port. “We have been preparing for this day for years and we look forward to showing the guests and crew of Norwegian Jewel that Banana Coast is like no place else in the Caribbean.”
Banana Coast, which welcomed its first ever cruise call on 10 February from Travel Dynamics International’s US-flagged 130-passenger Yorktown, features a two-berth, post-Panamax dock, a 50,000 sq ft shopping facility and transportation facility on ten acres of beachfront land. Passengers can enjoy 15 different shorex options, including the signature Campo del Mar Nature Park and Beach Break trip, airplane rides to the Mayan ruins at Copan, horseback riding, waterfall explorations, mangrove boat rides, jungle ATV adventures, snorkelling at a starfish bank, and kayaking in Guaimoreto Lagoon.
Norwegian Jewel will continue to make a series of calls between October and April 2015, while five other cruise lines have scheduled calls at Banana Coast during the winter Caribbean cruise season. Holland America Line was the first major cruise company to commit to a series of calls from November 2014 to March 2015. In addition, Silversea Cruises is set to call in December 2014 and March 2015, while P&O Cruises and Oceania Cruises plan to call in the first quarter of 2015.