By
Rebecca Gibson |
Monday (14 November) marked a huge day for New Orleans as cruise industry executives and local port officials gathered onboard Carnival’s Elation to announce that local cruise passenger capacity had reached pre-Katrina levels.
The storm, which was one of the costliest natural disaster in history, hit at a time when New Orleans was the fastest growing cruise port in the US.
“New Orleans has been revitalised and it's one of the most popular cities in the country,” Robert Huffman Jr., a regional vice president of sales for Carnival, told Reuters. “The city sells itself.”
Carnival, which initially returned to New Orleans with a smaller ship, this week began a cruising-schedule with the 2-000-passenger Elation and 3,000-passenger Conquest, both of which are to be home ported in the city.
Royal Caribbean has also made huge contributions to the rejuvenation of New Orleans, by home porting Voyager of the Seas, the largest ship ever to be based there.
To download the digital edition of International Cruise & Ferry Review Autumn/ Winter 2011, featuring an in-depth interview with Robert Jumonville, director of cruise and tourism at the port of New Orleans, please click here.