Major expansion works are underway at Port Canaveral. A $587 million development program has been started: the harbor will be widened and deepened and a new terminal and cargo facility will be constructed in order to accommodate more cargo vessels and larger cruise ships. The five-year project is expected to establish the port as an important cargo destination and draw more cruise passengers. Continue reading
Port Canaveral will host Norwegian Cruise Line again and prepares for the arrival of the Norwegian Spirit. A 879-foot, 75,338 tons and 1,996-guest ship, the Spirit was constructed for Star Cruises by Meyer-Werft and launched in 1998. She was bought by Norwegian Cruise Line in 2004 and renamed Norwegian Spirit. It’s the only ship of its class in the Norwegian fleet. The ship is presently based in Barcelona and will leave Europe on November 5th, 2015 on a 16-day cruise to Florida visiting Madeira, Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Continue reading
Another cruise ship had to return earlier than planned because of a norovirus outbreak. This time it is the Caribbean Princess. 165 passengers fell ill with norovirus, the same intestinal disorder that forced another ship to cut short a trip this week. Like Explorer of the Seas, the Caribbean Princess was on a Caribbean cruise. The ship set sail from Houston on Jan. 25 and was scheduled to return on Saturday.
For a second time in less than a week Royal Caribbean has to deal with a virus spreading on one of their cruise ships. More than 300 people, passengers and crew, on the Explorer of the Seas have complains of diarrhea and vomiting. There are 3,050 passengers and 1,165 crew members aboard the ship, the Explorer of the Seas, whose home port is at Bayonne, NJ.
Janet Diaz, spokesperson for Royal Caribbean International, told CNN that the ship skipped a planned stop in Haiti on Saturday and sailed directly to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it underwent an extensive sanitizing. Continue reading
With the New Year starts the construction of the new Port Canaveral Terminal 1. The $50.5 million facility is scheduled to open in November 2014. The new terminal will be the first on the south side of the harbor and the only one having dining and entertainment options in walking distance. It will also be near the newly opened Exploration Tower and a grear start point for area excursion.
Port Canaveral commissioners selected local firm Ivey’s Construction of Merritt Island, Florida to build the 187,500 square foot two-story terminal, the 1,400-foot-long berth and th parking for 1,000 vehicles. During construction the boat ramps at Freddie Patrick Park in the Cove will remain open. The parking will be relocated south of the current parking area. This temporary parking will be in place until the new boat ramp facility is constructed just west of Jetty Park near the entrance of the Port’s harbor. The new boat ramp facility is expected to be complete in July 2014.
The terminal will handle the port’s largest cruise ships and tenants for the terminal will be announced soon, according to a news release.
“No specific ships are in mind, but we will be able to accommodate all new ships coming for home port and port of call, including the Quantum coming here in fall 2014 for Port of Call visits from New York,” said. Port Canaveral CEO John E. Walsh
There are already theories on which ships will come after the new terminal is completed.
During construction the boat ramps at Freddie Patrick Park in the Cove will remain open. The parking will be relocated south of the current parking area. This temporary parking will be in place until the new boat ramp facility is constructed just west of Jetty Park near the entrance of the Port’s harbor. The new boat ramp facility is expected to be complete in July 2014.
