Cruise: Hawaii, New Orleans

Hawaii: New Vessel Scheduling System at State Harbors

The Hawaii Department of Transportation Harbors Division recently completed beta testing Hawaii.PortCall.com, a web-based vessel scheduling system that went live on January 1, 2016. Itinerary planners can view the availability of berthing space when reserving passenger ship visits at any of the Harbor Division’s commercial ports (Nawiliwili Harbor, Kauai; Honolulu Harbor, Oahu; Kahului Harbor, Maui; and Hilo Harbor, Hawaii) as well as Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources berths at Kona and Lahaina Harbors.

Hawaii.PortCall.com supports the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s marketing effort in promoting Hawaii as a destination. The system eliminates traditional processes of having facsimile machines or emails document first come first serve reservations to harbormasters. The system promotes transparency and fairness to agents competing for reservations by allowing agents to submit early reservations and provides an auditable documentation of the Harbors Division’s reservation policy of first come first serve.

Posting vessel schedules on Hawaii.PortCall.com provides 24/7 access to newspapers and the general public of the next day’s vessels’ estimated time of arrival and today’s vessels in port. Hawaii.PortCall.com serves vessel agents, ground transportation operators (bus and taxis) and the general public that want to greet passengers or families at passenger terminals.

During elevated warnings of tsunamis or hurricanes, Hawaii.PortCall.com allows federal, state and county emergency disaster planners and harbor users (stevedore linesmen, tug operators and harbor pilots) one source to view the vessels that are in port and plan an efficient evacuation of the vessels or identify those vessels that will remain in port seeking safe harbor refuge. This tool allows the harbormaster to formulate an informed response based on real-time information about all vessel movements and resumption of port operations.

Funding for the project was provided through the Hawaii Tourism.

New Orleans Cruise Traffic Tops 1Million Passengers for the Second Straight Year

Port of New Orleans cruise terminals processed 1,023,700 passengers in 2015. That was up 1 percent compared to 2014, giving the ports its fifth consecutive record year and its second year in which the passenger count topped 1.0 million.

These include passengers on deep-sea cruises offered by New Orleans homeported Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean and port of call visits by other cruise ship operators. Also counted are sailings on coastal and Mississippi River cruises operated by American Cruise Lines, American Queen Steamboat Co., Blount Small Ship Adventures and Travel Dynamics International.

"Year-end numbers illustrate how popular the port and the city of New Orleans are with cruise passengers throughout the nation," said Port President Gary LaGrange, PPM. "The fact our cruise partners are investing in new and larger ships here bodes well for the industry for years to come."
 
Carnival Cruise Line is increasing capacity on its year-round four- and five-day itineraries from New Orleans by 34 percent in April when the Carnival Triumph replaces the Carnival Elation. American Cruise Line will add a third riverboat, the America, to its New Orleans homeported fleet. The 185-passenger riverboat was launched in August and will begin sailing Mississippi River itineraries this spring.
 
Direct cruise industry expenditures in Louisiana totaling $406 million, supporting 8,120 jobs and providing $324 million in personal income, according to research conducted by Cruise Lines International Association. Port studies determined 80 percent of cruise passengers are from out of state and 60 percent spend an average of two nights in New Orleans either before or after their cruise. 


Cruise ships at the Port of New Orleans' Julia and Erato Street cruise terminals, located steps from the historic French Quarter
Photo/Port of New Orleans