Port Canaveral will have a new cruise terminal, which will likely serve several shipping lines.
Captain John Murray, the port's general manager, indicated the location of what would be Canaveral's seventh cruise terminal during the port authority meeting on Wednesday. It will be located at the western end of the port, west of Royal Caribbean's Cruise Terminal 1.
The new cruise terminal would not be designated for a single brand, the port's general manager stated, but would have multiple users.
“It’s important that it remains a large vessel terminal. It’s important that we don’t get boxed in,” Murray said, pointing out how one terminal serves a 6,000-passenger vessel and another of 3,500 passengers. “Our goal is to bring in the best asset and make the most of it.”
The terminal is expected to open in 2026.
Port delegates approved a three-year, four-month cruise operating contract with MSC Cruises for alternating three-, four-, and seven-day itineraries from CT-10 for MSC Divina, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seaside, or MSC Seashore, with two one-year extensions.
Murray noted that MSC had started sailing from Canaveral with one ship in September 2021 and since then, 'They have established themselves quite well in the local market'.
Since then, Port Canaveral's economic impact has grown significantly. Passenger embarkation volumes have surged 44% since 2018, indicating substantial growth, as Canaveral had been the world's second busiest cruise port. In 2022, it surpassed PortMiami to become number one.
Rich Higginson of Business Research & Economic Advisors said that during 2023, Canaveral is expected to have more than 3 million multi-day embarkation cruise passengers and 369,000 transit passengers along with more than 1.2 million crew arrivals.
Murray stated that the port's regional economic impact is "enormous," extending beyond Brevard County to Central and South Florida and the entire state. Cruise passengers use hotels and ground transportation, purchase gasoline and food, dine in restaurants, visit the Kennedy Space Center and Orlando…
