Business
Sun Princess and Allura made their maiden calls to St. Maarten on New Year's Day 2026
Princess Cruises' Sun Princess and Oceania Cruises' Allura both made their first calls at Port St. Maarten on 1 January 2026, a double inaugural day announced by Port St. Maarten Group and reported by CruiseHive.
By SXM Daily ยท
Reported 1 January 2026.
Port St. Maarten opened 2026 with two maiden cruise calls on the same day, as Princess Cruises' Sun Princess and Oceania Cruises' Allura arrived on 1 January, CruiseHive reported.
Illustrative: cruise ships at Philipsburg. Photo: Luigi Rosa / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Two first-time visitors
In a release on 31 December 2025, Port St. Maarten Group (PSG) described Sun Princess as "the largest ship ever constructed for Princess Cruises", powered by liquefied natural gas. It described Allura as the second Allura-class ship from Oceania Cruises, a smaller luxury vessel focused on dining.
CruiseHive reported that both ships arrived for their maiden visits on New Year's Day, with Allura arriving about an hour before Sun Princess. For both ships, St. Maarten was the last call of a holiday cruise from Florida, according to CruiseHive.
What the port said
"Starting the year 2026 with two inaugural calls is an extraordinary achievement for our tourism product," PSG management said in its release. The port said the visits would bring business to taxi drivers, tour operators, shops and restaurants, and urged the community to give the guests a warm welcome.
According to CruiseHive, Allura was due to return in early March 2026, while Sun Princess was not scheduled to return until December 2027.