With New Ships Comes New Terminals | Travel Research Online

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With New Ships Comes New Terminals

We have several new ships in the pipeline for the coming years. And cruise ports need to keep up with the new ship builds. As the ships are being designed to be bigger, cruise ports take the risk of losing business if they cannot accommodate these bigger ships. When Royal Caribbean designed the largest ship at sea, Oasis of the Seas, they built a whole new port of call in Falmouth, Jamaica to accommodate the size of Oasis.

So it should be no surprise that we are now seeing the two largest cruise ports in the world moving to update their cruise terminals so they can accommodate the newest ships coming down the pike.

Port Canaveral

The second busiest cruise port in the world, Port Canaveral has begun the demolition of their cruise terminal 3. Once demolition is completed, they will be start the most ambitious construction project in their history. The anticipated budget for the project is $150 million for the new cruise terminal as well as cargo piers, new parking, and road construction.

Besides constructing a new Terminal 3 building they will be dredging, constructing a passenger boarding bridge, and a parking garage to accommodate approximately 1,800 vehicles. The current hope is that construction will be completed by December 2019, or in early 2020.

The Port Canaveral Port Authority anticipates making an announcement soon about which cruise line will be partnering with them on the construction of the new terminal. Once construction is completed, it’s estimated that the terminal will be able to accommodate up to 6,500 cruisers. They should be in a position to handle even the largest cruise ship.

Miami

Miami is the largest cruise port in the world, and they have construction underway for two new cruise terminals. Royal Caribbean is up first with the new Terminal A which will be home to Allure of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas starting this fall. With the completion of this terminal Royal Caribbean anticipates that they will account for 30% of the port’s overall passenger traffic; up from the current 15%.

Next up is Norwegian Cruise Line. They just announced that they are planning to build Terminal B in Miami which will accommodate approximately 5,000 passengers. The plan is to have the terminal completed in time to welcome their new ship Norwegian Encore to Miami in late 2019. Their passenger capacity of Miami will rival Royal Caribbean’s new anticipated 30% of traffic; keeping Miami the largest, busiest cruise port in the world.

 

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Susan SchaeferSusan Schaefer is the owner of Ships ‘N’ Trips Travel located in Tennessee, and specializes in leisure travel with a focus on group travel and charity fundraisers. Through their division Kick Butt Vacations, she focuses on travel for 18 to 23-year-olds. Susan can be reached by email at susan@shipsntripstravel.com or by phone at (888) 221-1209.

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