ORANJESTAD – Aruba Ports Authority N.V. (APA) proudly announced that if everything goes as planned, they will welcome the first Cruise ship on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at 8:00 am since the start of the pandemic in 2020. The first ship will be the “Millennium” of the Celebrity Cruises.
The Cruise ship will depart from St. Maarten and has Aruba on their itinerary. Millennium will spend most of the day at the Port and will resume sailing at 6:00 pm. This will certainly help boost the economy what is highly needed right now.
“It has been over a year that operations at the Port in Oranjestad were halted by the pandemic. Except for a few cruise ships that opted to station at the port in Oranjestad, we received no passengers since the last Cruise ship departed on Mart 13 2020. This week fills us with emotions and determination for the road to recovery” the Director of APA, Marc Figaroa mentioned during the weekend while supervising preparations at the port for the arrival of Millennium.
The crew and passengers onboard the cruise ship are all older than 18 years.
This is not only an achievement for the APA but also of the team consisting of APA, Department of Public Health, Aruba Tourism Authority, Directorate of Shipping Aruba together with the Crisis Team has been working on and approved the protocols for Aruba to start receiving cruise ships once more at the port in Oranjestad. The way Aruba has been managing the pandemic has resulted positively because this is the first Cruise ship to sail the Caribbean waters since the beginning of the pandemic, and Aruba is more than honored.
Celebrity Millennium has undergone a complete renovation, from the deck to the mast. This was the biggest renovation in the history of Celebrity Millennium and guarantees their passengers a new and luxurious experience not comparable to any other. The cruise ship now offers new rooms, restaurants, recently equipped saloons, and a fully redesigned spa. The total investment was more than 500 million dollars.
Additional improvements onboard are:
- Contemporary rooms and suites fully redesigned and inspired by award-winning designer Kelly Hoppen of Celebrity Edge and bedding by eXhale of Celebrity with luxury mattresses of the Cashmere line
- Restaurants, bars, and saloons are renovated where guests can enjoy the culinary experience in a captive environment.
- New boutiques with the most popular designer lines.
Advanced RFID lock technology that provides privacy and security with digital keys for each room.
