By
Rebecca Gibson |
Holland America Line’s (HAL) Westerdam made her maiden call at the Port of New Orleans’ Julia Street Cruise Terminal on 27 October.
Port officials marked the visit with a plaque exchange onboard Westerdam, which was attended by Arnold Donald, president of HAL’s parent company Carnival Corpation & plc. Westerdam’s visit is the first in a series of transit calls for the 2015-2016 season.
“New Orleans is an international destination and cruise lines see it as an attractive call on their itineraries to market to potential passengers,” said Gary LaGrange, port president and CEO. “Unique cruise ship calls have a big impact on the local economy, as thousands of passengers at a time, who are often international, have the opportunity to explore everything New Orleans and the surrounding area has to offer.”
Returning cruise lines for 2015 will include AIDA Cruises, which has scheduled 11 overnight calls onboard AIDAvita between 11 November 2015 and December 2016.
P&O Cruises’ Oriana will make three overnight calls, while Oceana and Azura will each overnight at the Julia Street Cruise Terminal. In addition, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Europa 2 will call the port from 10-12 October 2016, while Azamara Club Cruises’ Azamara Quest will spend two days in New Orleans on 25-26 October.
New Orleans, which is ranked sixth largest in the US by the Cruise Lines International Association, currently hosts three homeported cruise ships. These include Carnival Cruise Line’s 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation, which sails year-round four- and five-day itineraries, and the 3,646-guest Carnival Dream, which offers year-round seven-day Caribbean itineraries. Norwegian Cruise Line’s 2,340-passenger Norwegian Dawn will return on 13 November to sail seven-day cruises between November and May from the Julia Street Cruise Terminal.
Next April, Carnival will replace Carnival Elation with Carnival Triumph to increase its capacity for four- and five-day itineraries by 34%.
American Cruise Lines also homeports its sternwheelers Queen of the Mississippi and American Eagle in New Orleans, while American Queen Steamboat sails the American Queen from the port.