Cruise: Canaveral, San Juan
New Cruise Terminal Design Work Gets Underway at Port Canaveral
The Canaveral Port Authority (CPA) has contracted with an engineering consulting firm for waterside design, engineering and support services for a new cruise facility. The port authority board approved the $1.2 million funding for the project management contract at its June 7 meeting, taking the first step in a two-year work plan to build a state-of-the-art facility able to serve cruise vessels with up to 8,000 passengers. Cruise Terminal 3 will replace one of port's oldest cruise terminals, currently being used for single-day port of call vessels.
"Port Canaveral continues to experience growth in all sectors, and particularly in our cruise business," said Port Canaveral CEO Captain John Murray. "With 80 percent of our revenue from cruise operations, it's important that we continuously improve our capabilities to meet the current and future needs some of the world's largest, most sophisticated cruise ships."
The contractor will assist CPA is securing permits from various state and local agencies including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The port will invest $150 million in the new terminal, which is targeted for completion in 2019.
The port authority has invested $195 million over the last few years in cruise terminal infrastructure, while maintaining community access to the port's parks and recreation facilities.
"The popularity and avid use of the port's Jetty Park recreation facilities adjacent to the CT-3 terminal, especially the public boat ramps and fishing areas, are very important to the port," said Capt. Murray. "The Port's Board of Commissioners has directed that engineering staff make continued public access to these areas a priority, and to ensure before, during, and after construction that boat parking is minimally impacted."
San Juan Cruise Passenger Traffic Up 9.4% in FY 2016-17
Cruise passenger traffic at Port of San Juan reached a five year-high in FY 2016-17 of 1,467,070, according to according to the Puerto Rico Port Authority’s August 2017 newsletter Los Puertos. That was up 9.4 percent from 1,341,474 passengers in FY 2015-16. The report also notes a year/on/year increases in cruise ship calls (to 508) and the average number of passengers per call.
A major factor in the increase, says the port authority, were improvements to the Muelle 3 cruise pier, allowing the docking of mega-ships, including Royal Caribbean’s 6,000-passenger Oasis class. During the year, as well, San Juan hosted the new Carnival Vista and Viking Star.