Basseterre St Kitts (Port Zante)

Port Zante (Basseterre's cruise port) serves the capital city of Saint Kitts and Nevis - an island country in the West Indies (Caribbean Sea). Port Zante is located in a bay on St Kitts Island's southwestern coast. The other cruise port of the country is Charlestown (on Nevis Island).

Basseterre City (population around 13,000) is one of the oldest in the Eastern Caribbean. It was established by France in 1627, under Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc (1585-1637). Port Basseterre is one of Leeward Islands' major commercial seaports.

For the season 2015-2016, Port Zante reported a total of 373 cruise ship calls and 913,716 passengers. Season 2016-2017 was a record-breaker - with 1,125927 million passengers and 569 ship calls. For the season 2017-2018, Port Zante had scheduled 596 ship calls with 1,500993 million passengers.

On January 12, 2017, Saint Kitts Island was visited by 6 cruise liners with total passenger capacity over 16,000. These vessels were RCI-Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas, Princess Cruises Regal Princess, AIDA Cruises AIDAluna, Marella Cruises Marella Discovery, and also the mega-yacht SeaDream (docked at Nevis Island).

In 2018 started construction works on Port Zante's new (second) cruise pier which was completed in 2019 and officially opened in November. With the new (2-berth) dock the cruise port now has berthing capacity of 3 of the world's largest passenger ships (of RCI's Oasis-class) simultaneously.

On July 16, 2018, St Kitts received its 1-millionth cruise passenger with the arrival of Freedom of the Seas. The liner docked in Port Zante at 8 am. The lucky cruiser received a free island tour, while all other arriving tourists received complimentary T-shirts. On December 11, 2018, Port Zante handled the Oasis-class liner Symphony of the Seas (LOA length 362 m, max capacity 6370 pax plus 2400 crew). Symphony OTS visited on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary roundtrip from PortMiami.

For 2018-2019, two other Oasis-class ships (Allure and Harmony) were also included in Port Zante's schedule. The season had all 8 Royal Caribbean liners visiting 85 times. On December 16, 2019, Port Zante reported a single-day record handling 10629 passengers on 4 ships - Anthem of the Seas, P&O Britannia, Celebrity Summit, Seabourn Odyssey.

Popular tourist destinations on the island visited on shore excursions from Basseterre include Carambola Beach Club (South Friar's Bay), Fairview Great House and Botanical Gardens, Caribelle Batik (Old Road Town's Romney Manor), Palms Court Gardens & Restaurant, Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, St Kitts Scenic Railway (3-hour / 30-mi / 50-km train tour encircling the island).

In 2023, the cruise port had scheduled a total of 364 ship calls, including 9 maiden/first-time visits - by the ships Carnival Spirit, Voyager of the Seas (RCI), Arvia (P&O UK), Seabourn Venture, Silver Dawn (Silversea), Ocean Explorer (Vantage Travel), Azamara Onward, Spirit of Discovery (Saga UK), Albatros (Phoenix Reisen).

Port Zante's largest cruise vessel so far is Wonder of the Seas (Nov 2022), while the ever-largest will be Icon of the Seas (Jan 2024).

Basseterre St Kitts cruise terminal

Basseterre St Kitts tours, shore excursions, hotels

City Tours and Shore Excursions

Carambola Beach