2 Cruise Lines Cancel Port Calls on St. Croix

Two cruise lines have canceled calls on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, citing security and crime problems.

Carnival Cruise Lines is substituting St. Martin for St. Croix on semiweekly Eastern Caribbean sails of its Carnival Victory and Carnival Triumph ships. The Victory made the switch in May; the Triumph will make the switch when it resumes Eastern Caribbean sailings Nov. 9. Spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said Carnival crew and passengers had been robbed several times in St. Croix in the last few months.

Last month Holland America, which had scheduled its new Zuiderdam ship to make 36 calls on St. Croix in 2002 and 2003 during semiweekly cruises beginning Dec. 14, decided to replace St. Croix with St. Kitts and Nevis. It cited “security concerns.”

Both lines said St. Croix officials had met with them in unsuccessful attempts to reverse their decisions.