By
Rebecca Gibson |
Carnival Cruise Line expects to carry a record 450,000 passengers from New Orleans, US, this year.
Carnival, which claims to have pioneered year-round cruising from New Orleans in 1994, has become the port’s largest cruise operator over the past two decades with two ships offering more than 125 four- to seven-day departures annually.
Currently, the 3,646-passenger Carnival Dream offers seven-day Caribbean cruises, while the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation sails four- and five-day Mexican voyages from New Orleans. Next spring, the 2,758-passenger Carnival will replace Carnival Elation to increase capacity on short cruises from New Orleans by 34%.
“Carnival has a long and deep history with the city of New Orleans,” said Carlos Torres de Navarra, Carnival’s vice president of commercial port operations. “We not only enjoy a very successful New Orleans-based cruise programme, but strive to be valuable community partners providing strong economic impact and supporting a variety of philanthropic initiatives. We look forward to continuing to grow our operations in New Orleans in partnership with this great city as it thrives and expands in the post-Katrina era.”
Carnival briefly suspended service in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, but returned to the port in October 2006 with one year-round ship, Carnival Fantasy. It has gradually increased its capacity from the city and next year, expects to welcome its three millionth passenger since the hurricane.
“Carnival Cruise Line is a valuable partner not only to the port, but to the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana,” said Gary LaGrange, the port’s president and CEO. “Cruising has grown 180% since 2001, the year the port began marketing itself as a premier cruise destination in earnest, and we could not have realised such growth without Carnival’s investment in New Orleans.”