By
Rebecca Gibson |
Florida’s Port Tampa Bay surpassed the one million cruise passenger mark for the first time in its history on 17 September 2018.
The milestone follows two record cruise passenger weekends earlier in 2018 – the busiest of which was 31 March to 1 April, when 29,167 cruise guests passed through the port.
“This is a fantastic moment for Port Tampa Bay and our cruise line partners,” said Paul Anderson, president and CEO of Port Tampa Bay. “This milestone shows that Tampa is truly a world-class destination for cruise passengers.”
Numbers are set to continue rising further now that Carnival Cruise Line has scheduled 20 extra Cuba sailings on Carnival Paradise and doubled capacity by basing Carnival Miracle at the port to offer a year-long programme of seven-day cruises. Royal Caribbean International has moved a larger ship – Majesty of the Seas – to Tampa to offer voyages to Cuba. Tampa is also working on plans to develop more dining, shopping and entertainment options for cruise guests, locals and other visitors.
Read about the latest updates from Port Tampa Bay in our new issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review.