Tag Archives: Port Canaveral

Six cruise ships dock at Port Canaveral

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Six cruise ships dock at Port Canaveral Craig Rubadoux/FLORIDA TODAY

Port Canaveral’s first-ever six-cruise-ship day was Sunday

It was more than a little crowded at Port Canaveral on today.

An unprecedented six cruise ships were on hand — four that are based here and two that are making port-of-call stops.

“It’s just a sign of things to come,” Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Walsh said, as Port Canaveral battles to overtake the Port of Miami as the world’s No. 1 cruise port.

The port’s first six-ship day is a symbolic milestone in that quest.

There will be more six-ship days later this year at Port Canaveral and some seven-ship days as early as 2017, based on projected schedules, Walsh said.

Port Canaveral may need another cruise terminal in 2016

More cruise passengers in town translates into more businesses for hotels, restaurants, retailers and attractions.

“It’s just fantastic,” says Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Eric Garvey. “Our area

just continues to elevate in profile.”

Additionally, the sail-outs of the ships Sunday afternoon and evening will be a spectacle for patrons of the restaurants and bars along the port’s Cove area, who will get a bonus of watching the ships head out the channel.

“We’ll be slammed,” predicts Michael Schwarz, general manager of Fishlips Waterfront Bar & Grill at the Cove. “We get a great crowd” to watch the cruise ships sailing out of the port.

Schwarz said crowds show up around 3 p.m., in anticipation of the ship departures starting around 4, and he expects his 500-seat restaurant/bar to be full.

Huge Quantum of the Seas arrives at Port Canaveral

Walsh said there will be 26,000 cruise “passenger movements” at Port Canaveral on Sunday. That is the total of passengers arriving at the end of their cruises on the four Port Canaveral-based ships, new passengers getting on those ships and passengers visiting the area on a cruise making a port-of-call stop. That’s about 5,000 more than the combined population of Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

“The growth is sort of refreshing,” Walsh said.

One drawback from the day: Traffic may be heavy on State Roads A1A and 528 on Sunday, with all the cruise passengers coming to and leaving the port.

“It will be hectic,” Walsh said. “I think A1A and 528 will start to see some push.”

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 and dberman@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByDave Berman and on Facebook at facebook.com/dave.berman.54.

SHIP SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY (Feb. 15)

Ships based at Port Canaveral:

•Carnival Liberty: Arrives at 7 a.m., leaves at 4 p.m. from Cruise Terminal 10

•Carnival Sunshine: Arrives at 6:30 a.m., leaves at 4 p.m. from Cruise Terminal 6

•Disney Magic: Arrives at 5:30 a.m., leaves at 4:45 p.m. from Cruise Terminal 8

•Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas: Arrives at 6 a.m., leaves at 4:30 p.m. from Cruise Terminal 1

Ships making port-of-call stop at Port Canaveral:

•Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas: Arrives at 10:30 a.m., leaves at 9:30 p.m. from Cruise Terminal 5

•Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas: Arrives at 1 p.m., leaves at 11 p.m. from Cruise Terminal 3

Note: Arrival and departure times are estimates

Source: Port Canaveral

 

Independence of the Seas to sail Caribbean cruises

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By Tom Stieghorst

Royal Caribbean International said the Independence of the Seas will spend its first summer in the Caribbean in 2015, returning from deployment in Europe.

The ship will sail alternating seven-day eastern and western Caribbean itineraries from Fort Lauderdale.

Royal Caribbean recently announced that its largest ship, Allure of the Seas, which had been sailing from Fort Lauderdale year round, would be sent to Europe for the summer in 2015.

Oasis of the Seas will continue from Fort Lauderdale, and Freedom of the Seas from Port Canaveral next summer.

Grandeur of the Seas will continue sailing to Bermuda and the Bahamas in the summer of 2015 from Baltimore, and alternate Bermuda with Canada/New England itineraries in the fall.

Brilliance of the Seas will do Canada/New England fall itineraries from Boston, while Serenade of the Seas will sail back and forth between the New York area and Quebec City on 10- to 14-day foliage sailings.

Miami and Norwegian’s resurgence

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By Tom Stieghorst

*InsightFor years, one of the most impressive sights in the cruise business was the Norway steaming out of the Port of Miami.

Painted a striking blue, the former S.S. France was over 1,000 feet long at a time when most cruise ships were pushing 800 feet. It had the sleek look of a classic liner, which it was before being mothballed in 1974 when trans-Atlantic jetliners made it obsolete.

In 1979, what was then Norwegian Caribbean Line bought the ship and spent $80 million retooling it for use as a full-time cruise ship. For all of its good looks, however, the Norway was something of a white elephant financially.*TomStieghorst

A steamship when others were diesel electric, and completely unique when fleet uniformity was coming into vogue, the Norway helped send Norwegian into a decades-long tailspin.

A weakened rival, Norwegian was unable to compete head-on with new ships from Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International. It had to zig when those lines zagged. With Miami cruises firmly locked down, Norwegian went hunting elsewhere. It abandoned the seven-day year-round Caribbean cruise from South Florida about a decade ago.

So it is noteworthy that Norwegian will have four ships cruising from Miami this winter, including the brand-new Norwegian Getaway, which will stay year round after making its debut in February.

And that’s not all. While Norwegian isn’t confirming it, the Miami-Dade County Commission has just approved a joint marketing agreement for the Norwegian Escape that would keep the ship in Miami for at least three years following its debut in late 2015.

The deal calls for Norwegian to hold the Escape’s naming ceremony at the port, which now styles itself PortMiami. For its part, the county-run port will pay $3 million to help market the ship.

Norwegian’s return to Miami can only help re-establish that port, which once was the undisputed cruise capital of the world but has lost some of its mojo as Port Everglades and Port Canaveral have come on. PortMiami recently crossed the 4 million passenger mark for the first time, keeping it ahead of its rivals, if only by a little bit.

A resurgent Norwegian is even good for its competitors, because they don’t have to contend with all the cabins that the old Norwegian used to price to fill six weeks before sailing.

Norwegian’s new ships no longer have the classic lines of the Norway, but they don’t have its losses either. That’s progress.