Disney Cruise Line is considering “a competing port” to Miami for use with its expanding fleet.
This was reported in Miami-Dade County’s Memorandum ahead of the Board of County Commissioners meeting on Feb. 17.
“Disney has recently advised the Port that, prior to entering into a preferential berthing rights agreement with the County, it will conduct due diligence with a competing port regarding a long-term berthing agreement at that port,” the Memorandum reads.
Disney currently sails cruises seasonally from PortMiami, and is a key client at Port Canaveral, with a year-round presence.
However, by 2025, Disney’s fleet is expected to grow from four to seven – with the Disney Wish and two other unnamed ships entering the family.
If MSC Cruises signs a lease agreement with PortMiami for Berths 8, 9 and 10, Disney Cruise Line may share Berth 10 with MSC, getting preferential use rights over other cruise lines, according to the Memorandum.
It is not wholly clear which other port the cruise line is considering, although Port Everglades would be the closest major cruise port to Miami.
“We are talking with the cruise lines on a consistent basis, there are weekly teleconferences. We are talking about what we are doing with our terminals and understanding what the obligations and criteria will be moving forward,” said Jonathan Daniels, who took over as the new CEO and port director at Port Everglades over the summer.
The 2020-2021 season for Port Everglades was poised to be a good one – the new Enchanted Princess was slated to call the port home, along with the Celebrity Apex and Odyssey of the Seas.
Looking at the new Celebrity Apex outside his office window, Daniels said he was working closely with the Royal Caribbean Group to understand what the terminal experience will look like.
“The difficult part will ultimately be determining where the line of demarcation is for accountability and responsibility,” Daniels said.
Guests will have staggered check-in times, basically appointments to board, and the terminals will need to be re-flowed a bit, meaning various zones for testing, isolation and more.
“Laboratories, testing, how does that translate into space in the terminal?” Daniels asked. “What happens if there is a positive case?”
Asking those questions is part of an unknown, without answers or guidance yet from the CDC.
Head Start
The port’s ferry service to the Bahamas launched for a two-week period in July, as it was not affected by the CDC’s “No Sail” order with a ship under 250 passengers aboard.
That meant Port Everglades had a trial run of sorts, installing plexiglass barriers, signage and hand sanitiser distribution stations in a terminal.
“We’ve been moving beyond that and integrating that into other terminals in anticipation of a restart of cruising,” Daniels said.
50,000
Pre COVID, a weekend in the winter could see upwards of 50,000 people move through Port Everglades on a single day with ships at all the port’s cruise berths.
With the business mounting a comeback in 2021, Daniels said the potential for growth beyond that would be in increasing the utilization of cruise terminals, especially for itineraries leaving mid-week, along with building up more summer business.
With a pivot toward closer-to-home and shorter cruises, the port is well-positioned in Florida to take advantage of that.
Carnival Cruise Line today announced it had sold the Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Inspiration. A buyer was not named.
Meanwhile, the Carnival Fascination and Carnival Imagination will move to a long term lay-up status, with no specific timeline identified for a return to operation.
The company also announced that its second Excel-class ship will join the fleet in November 2022 from Meyer Turku and sail out of PortMiami as previously announced.
The Carnival Sensation will move from Miami to Mobile and take up itineraries previously assigned to the Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Fascination, with guests on those two ships being re-accommodated on Carnival Sensation.
The Carnival Sunrise will move from Port Everglades to PortMiami and assume the itineraries previously operated by Carnival Sensation, providing a larger, upgraded ship for short itineraries with the many new features installed during Carnival Sunrise’s $200 million transformations completed in 2019. Guests booked on the Sunrise itineraries from Port Everglades will be automatically moved to sailings from PortMiami.
Carnival Inspiration.
The Carnival Fascination’s itineraries from San Juan and Barbados have been cancelled for 2020-2021 as the cruise line focuses its return to operations on mainland drive markets in the U.S., the company said.
Itineraries for the Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration from Long Beach have been cancelled through Apr. 19, 2021. Carnival Panorama will continue to operate 7-day cruises from Long Beach while Carnival Miracle will operate shorter itineraries from San Diego to Baja Mexico.
The Carnival Radiance will now move directly from Europe after its $200 million transformations and homeport in Long Beach in April of 2021, where it will assume the short Baja Mexico itineraries previously served by the Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration. Guests booked on Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration after April 22, 2021, will be re-accommodated on Carnival Radiance.
Carnival also said it notified its Australian guests that it has extended its pause of operations in that country, and has cancelled six cruises scheduled to operate between Sept. 25 and Oct. 29, 2020.
Carnival Radiance.
“We have used this pause in operations to think carefully about our fleet and to build a plan that gives our guests new choices and upgrades to current ship offerings,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “We have a great variety of ships across the Carnival Cruise Line fleet and we are thrilled to have been able to confirm a delivery date ahead of what we had anticipated for our second Excel ship, which is exciting news for guests interested in sailing from PortMiami on the sister ship to Mardi Gras! At the same time, we will continue to invest in the four remaining Fantasy-class ships that we are keeping in the fleet. We have many guests who prefer our Fantasy-class ships which work so well for shorter itineraries from smaller ports that cannot accommodate our larger ships. With a fleet that gives guests lots of choices in ships, homeports, destinations and features including a multitude of dining, entertainment and accommodation choices, we are very excited about the future for Carnival Cruise Line.”
Guests and travel agents are being notified directly about impacted sailings, guest re-accommodations and cancellations. Duffy thanked guests and travel agent partners alike for their continued patience, loyalty and support during this unprecedented time for the cruise industry. “With our future fleet plan resolved, we are focused on ensuring we are ready to return to operations once it is determined that the time is right to resume cruising in the U.S.,” she said.
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