People who want to take a cruise from Port Everglades will have two new options. The Carnival Sunrise, a completely refurbished ship will begin sailing from the Port on October 28. It holds 2,984 passengers.
Carnival rebuilt this ship and changed the name from Triumph to Sunrise. The Sky Princess, a new ship, will begin sailing from the Port during the first week of December. It can hold 3,600 passengers, according to Ellen Kennedy, spokesperson for the Port.
While cruising is a very popular type of vacation, many people have never taken a cruise. “We expect more people will be taking cruises in the future. We have seen about 3.8 million cruisers each year for the past few years. We expect this number to increase as more people discover cruising as a great getaway vacation,” said Kennedy. “The cruise industry is looking to tap into first time customers and they become repeat customers.”
Also, a new parking garage to serve Cruise Terminals 2 and 4 is now under construction. It will have 1,888-spaces and will be completed in the Fall of 2020.
It will feature an air-conditioned bridge with moving walkways to deliver guests to Terminal 2, Princess Cruises’ prototype Ocean Medallion terminal.
Port Everglades is preparing for 2020 with a vision for cruise facility investments to improve traffic flow, turnaround times and guest satisfaction.
Port Everglades updates its 20-Year Master/Vision Plan every 2-4 years to align its capital improvement plans with technology advances and deployment trends in the cruise industry. Port officials and their consulting team from Bermello Ajamil & Partners have been meeting with the Port’s cruise line partners and other Port stakeholders regularly to discuss their needs and expectations for the coming decades.
“Our Master/Vision Plan is a roadmap for the future,” said Glenn Wiltshire, Port Everglades acting chief executive & Port director. “As cruise lines build more technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable cruise ships, and want the flexibility to do quicker turns, we need to be ready with modernized cruise terminals that will meet the cruise line’s needs.”
According to market projections from the Plan Update, Port Everglades has the potential to increase passenger volumes from just under 4 million annually today to more than 50 percent of that number by 2038.