By
Rebecca Gibson |
Carnival Corporation & plc has extended its passenger terminal agreement with Florida’s Port Everglades from 2025 to 2030.
Building on the 15-year agreement signed by Carnival Corporation and the Broward County Board of County Commissioners in 2010, the new addendum gives the cruise corporation preferential use of five terminals. They include Cruise Terminals 2, 21, 26 and 4, which reopened last year following a US$24 million renovation. The corporation will also be able to use an additional terminal.
As part of the original 2010 agreement, Port Everglades completed a US$54 million refurbishment project to significantly upgrade four existing cruise terminals to accommodate ships from Carnival Corporation’s ten-brand fleet. The new agreement will see the two companies exploring the possibility of further improvements to Terminal 21 to accommodate Carnival Corporation’s latest class of ships.
Additionally, the port is currently extending the slip of Terminal 4 to accommodate larger ships. To be completed at a cost of US$13.6 million, the project should be finished by mid-2017.
“Carnival Corporation is a critical Port Everglades partner and its many unique cruise line brands offer guests sailing into and out of our port with a wide variety of cruise experiences and itineraries,” said Steve Cernak, chief executive and port director of Port Everglades. “Carnival Corporation has a strong, long-standing presence in the Broward County community, and the additional five years included in the agreement reinforces that commitment. We look forward to welcoming the newest member of Holland America Line’s fleet, Koningsdam, to our sunny shores in November.”
Seven of Carnival Corporation’s 10 global cruise line brands currently carry nearly 1.5 million passengers to and from Port Everglades each year. These brands include Holland America Line, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises UK, Princess Cruises and Seabourn Cruise Line. The seven Carnival Corporation brands and 28 different ships account for a combined average of more than 300 annual calls at the port. In 2017, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Splendor will begin homeporting from Port Everglades during the 2017 summer season.
“Florida is the largest cruise market in the world, and we are thrilled to extend our agreement with Port Everglades, which is an extremely convenient and popular location for our guests with close proximity to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the Caribbean, the world’s most popular region for cruise vacations,” said Giora Israel, senior vice president of global port and destination development for Carnival Corporation. “We place great value on the long and successful relationship we have built with the port and Broward County, and we look forward to working together to meet our most important goal – providing memorable vacation experiences for our guests for many years to come.”