Carnival Corporation has listed its headquarters in Miami for sale, after owning it for nearly three decades.
According to Bloomberg, the company is now looking to downsize to about 300,000 square feet of new office space in the Miami area in the next two years.
Cruise Industry News understands many Carnival employees work fully remotely following the pandemic.
A spokesperson confirmed that the company is “exploring options for new office facilities,” according to the Bloomberg story.
Located 15 miles from the Port of Miami, the 470,000 square feet Doral headquarters has served as Carnival’s base since it was acquired in 1983. The Miami space is being listed with commercial real estate broker Cushman & Wakefield Plc.
Scotland’s Greenock Ocean Terminal is preparing for the busiest year ever with 91 cruise ships scheduled to arrive throughout 2023.
According to a press release, this number represents a rise of over 25 per cent compared to last year. Greenock will welcome a total of 150,000 passengers and 38,000 crew members over the course of this year.
Jim McSporran, Clydeport port director at Peel Ports said: “We’re extremely proud to be announcing a record cruise year for Greenock Ocean Terminal.
“Welcoming cruise liners to Greenock is a hugely important aspect of our port offering and we’re delighted that we continue to attract and grow cruise numbers to the region.
“This increase in tourism will benefit visitor attractions and businesses across Inverclyde and central Scotland, and we look forward to welcoming these visitors across the season.”
“In an effort to showcase the port as the cruise gateway to the West Coast of Scotland, this year we are also investing in a promotional campaign to feature at the global cruise industry’s key annual gathering in the U.S.”
This year will be the second full season for the port since COVID-19 put a halt on the cruise industry. The port expects the completion of a new £19.2 million cruise ship visitor centre this year. The project is led by Inverclyde Council and is part of the £1 billion Glasgow City Region City Deal funded by the Scottish and UK governments.
Councillor Stephen McCabe, leader of Inverclyde Council, said: “The cruise sector here in Inverclyde continues to go from strength to strength and I’m delighted that this year is set to be the busiest yet with record numbers of ships and passengers, as well as a substantial number of crew visiting these shores.
“It’s timely that with 2023 shaping up to be a bumper year for cruise calls that the finishing touches are being put on our new state-of-the-art Greenock cruise ship visitor centre which will provide our guests from around the world with a first-class welcome to Inverclyde and the west coast of Scotland.
“While we can all look forward to seeing some of the largest and most luxurious ships grace these shores over the coming months, with upwards of 200,000 people expected onboard those vessels there are also economic opportunities there for local businesses as visitors look to discover Inverclyde and the many great things we have to offer.”
Last year, Clydeport welcomed 71 cruise calls, including. Among the ships to visit the port this year are the MSC Virtuosa, one of the biggest ships to dock at the terminal.
International cruise ships are returning to Japan, three years after the Diamond Princess became the world’s first luxury ship to face a major Covid outbreak.
Amadea, operated by Germany-based Phoenix Reisen, is now docked in Tokyo Bay after earlier arriving at a port in Shizuoka prefecture in western Japan, according to shipping data tracked by Bloomberg.
The outbreak on Carnival Corp.’s Diamond Princess, which docked on the country’s shores in February 2020, drew global attention to the risks of infection aboard sea vessels. At one point, the ship had the most cases outside mainland China, where the virus originated.
A months-long saga eventually ensued after the ship was quarantined off the nation’s shores, with about a fifth of the 3,711 passengers onboard the luxury ship infected and 12 deaths. That crisis also heralded a wider shutdown of the industry during the pandemic. Japanese authorities were criticized by some infectious disease experts for failing to contain the spread of the virus, with people quarantined on the ship without proper ventilation in place.
Since then, the country has joined other nations around the world in removing pandemic curbs, loosening travel restrictions last October. Meanwhile, major cruise operators like Royal Caribbean have also seen bookings rebound.
The nation has geared up to welcome back cruise ships, which brought more than 2 million people to Japan in 2019.
In an indication of changed attitudes, there was much fanfare for the crew members and the mostly German passengers on board the Amadea. Local authorities organized a drum performance to entertain guests and rolled out the local mascot, a blue dinosaur called “Shizulla” to greet them.
As the ship departed to continue its journey to Tokyo, fireworks were set off. “There will be more cruise ships coming in future,” the mascot’s publicity Twitter account said.
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