Port Canaveral commissioners approved two new contracts last week: One regarding Royal Caribbean and the other to start construction of a new cruise terminal. The new cruise terminal will be replacing Cruise Terminal 3 on the south side of the Port, west of Jetty Park. Port commissioners voted 5-0 to award the $1.25 million contract to a team of 7 companies that will begin the waterside engineering. Most of the work will be done by CH2M and Atkins. Design and construction contracts for the terminal building and adjacent parking garage are still to be awarded.
Port Canaveral continues to show strong growth in its cruise business with Carnival, Disney, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean all having ships based in Port. The current Cruise Terminal 3 is mostly used for ships making port-of-call visits. The new terminal is being designed to handle some of the largest cruise ships now in service. Port Canaveral’s Chief Executive Officer, John Murray, expects Cruise Terminal 3 to cost between $120 million and $150 million depending on the features and design of the new terminal. Funding for this project will come from the Port’s existing capital budget for the current year.
The CH2M team must obtain the necessary permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Bill Crowe, the Port’s senior director of facilities, construction and engineering anticipates the design and permitting work to occur until the summer of 2018. After which, construction of the new Cruise Terminal 3 would occur over a 15-month period, beginning in the summer of 2018. The terminal and garage are expected to be ready for operation in the fall of 2019.
The Port commissioners also unanimously approved an amendment to the operating agreement with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. Royal Caribbean has two cruise ships based year-round in Port Canaveral, the Majesty of the Seas and the Oasis of the Seas. The Oasis of the Seas departs on Sundays from Port Canaveral on seven-night cruises to the eastern and western Caribbean and has a full capacity of 6,780 passengers. The Majesty of the Seas departs Mondays and Thursdays from Port Canaveral on three and four-night cruises to the Bahamas and has a full capacity of 2,767 passengers. On top of these two ships that call Port Canaveral home, Royal Caribbean also often brings other ships to Port Canaveral for port-of-call stops.
The update to the 10-year agreement signed in 2014 involves modification to various financial arrangements between Port Canaveral and the cruise line. The new agreement includes changes in the amount the Port will recover related to the project scope of Cruise Terminal 1 (Royal Caribbean’s primary terminal), adjustments to the credit Royal Caribbean receives when other cruise lines use Cruise Terminal 1, and removing the priority that Royal Caribbean has for using Cruise Terminal 10 on Mondays and Fridays.
Are you cruising out of Port Canaveral? Don’t forget to book your pre and post cruise accommodations! Go Port will take care of everything you need from a hotel stay to transportation so you can make the most of your vacation.
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