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Award-winning Solstice-class ship will offer 7-night itineraries to The Bahamas, Belize, Grand Cayman, Mexico, San Juan and St. Maarten and private island Perfect Day at CocoCay 

(Photo: Celebrity Cruises)

Port Canaveral, FL – August 15, 2023 - Celebrity Cruises has chosen Port Canaveral to homeport their award-winning Celebrity Equinox to expand the brand’s sailings to the Caribbean starting December 3, 2024, through April 19, 2025. Celebrity Cruises is the seventh major cruise line to choose Port Canaveral as its homeport, underscoring the Port’s status as the world’s busiest cruise Port. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Celebrity Cruises as our new partner and honored to be part of their Caribbean expansion plans,” said Capt. John Murray, Port Canaveral CEO. “The demand for Celebrity Cruise sailings from our Port has been growing. Now, with Celebrity Equinox homeported here, there are great opportunities for even more cruise travelers to experience the cruise line’s high-quality experience, while experiencing the comfort and ease of travel provided by our Port.”

(Photo: Celebrity Cruises)

The Celebrity Equinox will offer 20 new itineraries sailing from Port Canaveral spanning 7-nights to sought-after destinations like The Bahamas, Belize, Grand Cayman, Mexico, San Juan, and St. Maarten. Just in time for the Spring Break season, two sailings on March 1st and March 15th, 2025, will include stops at their private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay. 

“We are so excited to unveil this new program. It provides our guests with more options to experience the natural beauty of the Caribbean, which is elevated by our personalized experiences on board,” says Laura Hodges Bethge, President of Celebrity Cruises. “As part of this expansion, we are thrilled to add Port Canaveral to our list of home ports – it is a perfect market to reach a wide mix of both in- and out-of-state travelers looking for fun in the Caribbean sun.”

(Photo: Celebrity Cruises)

Celebrity Equinox is 1,041 feet long, 122,000 gross tons and features 13 decks, 1,426 staterooms and accommodates 2,850 passengers. An award-winning Solstice class ship Celebrity Equinox underwent a multi-million-dollar refresh in 2019, introducing elevated design concepts, and an all-new The Retreat experience including a redesigned private indoor lounge, sundeck, and fine-dining restaurant – all of which are exclusive to suite guests.  

Throughout the ship, vacationers enjoy ten exceptional dining and cocktail options, including craft beer and comfort food in the new Craft Social, experience pure bliss at the Spa, or feel the grass beneath their feet while enjoying an outdoor movie, reading a book, or sunbathing at the relaxing Lawn Club. 

(Photo: Celebrity Cruises)

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Construction progresses on Royal Caribbean International’s $125 million cruise terminal in Galveston, Texas. The 161,334-square-foot building’s opening in November 2022 will mark the first time Galveston welcomes the world's largest cruise ships, beginning with Allure of the Seas of the cruise line's signature Oasis Class. The highly anticipated terminal will feature state-of-the-art technology – including mobile check-in and facial recognition – for a seamless arrival experience and a bold design that incorporates sustainable certification standards like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

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Port Canaveral Welcomes Carnival Freedom to its New Homeport

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(L-R) Rene Jewell, Carnival Freedom Hotel Director, Carnival Freedom Capt. Josip Mladina, Capt. John Murray, Canaveral Port Authority CEO, Rachel Green, Carnival HR Director, Agostino Ceserale, Carnival Freedom Chief Engineer dockside at Cruise Terminal 6
(Photo: Canaveral Port Authority)

Port Canaveral, FL – April 22, 2022 – Port Canaveral welcomed Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Freedom on her first call to the Port at a dockside ceremony as the ship prepared for her inaugural sailing from the Port’s Cruise Terminal 6.  The Carnival Freedom, which will be homeported at Port Canaveral, will offer four- and five-night itineraries to The Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean, with stops in Nassau, Princess Cays, Bimini, Freeport, Amber Cove, Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay. 

“We’re excited to welcome Carnival Freedom to the fleet of Carnival cruise ships homeported at Port Canaveral,” stated Capt. John Murray, Port CEO. “Her arrival adds even more quality cruise sailings available from our Port.  We’re very proud of our longstanding partnership with Carnival Cruise Line, and our collective efforts to provide an exceptional cruising experience.”

"Having Carnival Freedom join Mardi Gras, Carnival Liberty and Carnival Magic sailing from Port Canaveral to The Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean offers yet another option for our guests to enjoy all the fun a Carnival cruise offers from one of our most popular homeports,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “This is an exciting time for Carnival, as we just reached the milestone of our biggest booking week ever and the celebration of our 50th birthday. Our return to full guest operations continues to be successful thanks to our loyal guests and valued partners, like the team at Port Canaveral."

In keeping with tradition, Port executives presented Carnival Freedom Capt. Josip Mladina with a plaque marking the cruise ship’s first visit to Port Canaveral.

The 952 foot, 110,000-ton Conquest-class cruise ship has a guest capacity for approximately 3,000 passengers double-occupancy, and joins three of her sister ships that call Port Canaveral home, the Carnival Mardi Gras, the Carnival Magic and the Carnival Liberty.

The ship offers many of the features Carnival fan favorites, such as Guy Fieri burgers at Guy's Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, Bonsai Sushi Express, Alchemy Bar and RedFrog Rum Bar, etc. 

SOURCE Canaveral Port Authority

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READY TO BOOK YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE?

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Better Ships & More destinations than before

Royal Caribbean Reopens Service in Another Cruise Port

Royal Caribbean's 1st Cruise Back from Port Tampa Bay Sets Sail today and it is the, Serenade of the Seas!

The Serenade’s arrival is the first time this class of ship will be homeporting and sailing from TampaBay. Continuing with exciting news additionally when Celebrity Cruises resumes it too will homeport a new class in Port Tampa Bay!

The ship will offer 4, 5 & 7-night sailings to the Caribbean and Mexico calling on cruise ports like Costa Maya, Roatan, Belize City & Cozumel.

The importance of cruise travel to the area:

Business Research & Economic Advisors estimated that a 3,000-passenger ship generates an average of $334,000 in passenger and crew onshore spending per call in a homeport city

A press conference was held welcoming back the return of cruising from Tampa Bay.

Keeping with customary tradition, when a ship calls on a port for the first time, they exchange gifts such as plaques, to commemorate the occasion. Often you can find on a cruise ship an entire wall dedicated to keeping and displaying the plaques that they have received from port cities.

• Speakers in the press conference included:
   Paul Anderson – Port Tampa Bay President & CEO

• Russell Benford – Royal Caribbean Group Vice President of Government Relations, Americas 

• Santiago Corrada – Visit Tampa Bay President & CEO  

• Vicky Evans  –  The Auto Club Group Assist. VP, Travel Sales & Development 

Serenade of the Seas Arriving in Port Tampa Bay for the 1st time.

Port Tampa Bay Terminal Signage (Photo by Alanna Zingano, Travel the World A To Z)

There is so much to do and see in Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay is a vibrant and fun city, that is growing and expanding. Cruise guests that visit are encouraged to visit the many restaurants, take a tour of Ybor City, visit Sparkman Wharf, The Florida Aquarium, A Buccaneers or Tampa Bay lightening game.

Three Cruise Ship’s in Port Tampa Bay (Photo courtesy of Port Tampa Bay)

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Port Tampa Bay celebrates the return of cruising with Royal Caribbean International’s Serenade of the Seas  

Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas (Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean)

Port Tampa Bay and Royal Caribbean International celebrate the return of cruising from our port that has been more than 18 months in the making. Port Tampa Bay will welcome Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas to Cruise Terminal 6 before she departs on her maiden voyage from Tampa Bay with cruise guests on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. This is the first cruise vessel departure from Tampa Bay since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a no-sail order on March 14, 2020. 

Port Tampa Bay Terminal Signage (Photo by Alanna Zingano, Travel the World A To Z)

The return of cruising will have a far-reaching impact on our region, with many small and local businesses standing to benefit. Business Research & Economic Advisors estimated that a 3,000-passenger ship generates an average of $334,000 in passenger and crew onshore spending per call in a homeport city. The development of Sparkman Wharf, Water Street, Armature Works, and other hotel, dining, shopping, and entertainment projects in Tampa continues to boost the attractiveness of the bay area as a homeport. Cruise visitors to Tampa have the convenience of accessing a nationally top-ranked airport, secure parking garages – just steps away from all three cruise terminals, world-class beaches, and local attractions like Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquarium, and Ybor City. 

Three Cruise Ship’s in Port Tampa Bay (Photo courtesy of Port Tampa Bay)

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Come behind the scenes of the New Disney Cruise Line Terminal, T8! While touring the cruise terminal in Port Canaveral we got to explore and learn how this port is getting ready for welcoming Disney cruise ships and passengers back to cruising! The terminal construction started in early 2020 and they are making great progress to the renovation! We learned how it has been somewhat of a challenging task making sure the old building matches all of the new! This is a very classy terminal that has a wonderful look and feel! We cannot wait to cruise out of Terminal 8 in Port Canaveral and sail away on a Disney Cruise Line ship! We hope you enjoy this A to Z exclusive behind the scenes!

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Watch more from our exclusive tours in Port Canaveral! Check out the Carnival Mardi Gras Terminal

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Come behind the scenes of the New Carnival Mardi Gras Terminal, T3! While touring the brand-new Terminal 3 in Port Canaveral we got to explore and learn how this port is getting ready for the first LNG powered cruise ship in North America! Which is the Mardi Gras! We had a blast and got to strike a pose for the photo backdrops. My favorite thing we learned about the new cruise terminal is how Carnival opted into $4 million worth of extras that makes the terminal absolutely gorgeous! Check out another EXCLUSIVE Tour!

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Here is the Disney Cruise Line Terminal in Port Canaveral, CONSTRUCTION

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Port Tampa Bay donates more than 1,000 rolls of toilet paper to Feeding Tampa Bay

Port Tampa Bay donated more than 1,000 rolls of toilet paper to Feeding Tampa Bay so that the organization could distribute the much-needed supplies to its network of food banks throughout the region. The port was able to secure the toilet paper through their building supplier. A majority of Port Tampa Bay staff are currently working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, greatly reducing the need for toilet paper in the port’s administration building.

“Port Tampa Bay strives to be a good community partner and wanted to help our neighbors during this crisis. I am so pleased we were able to secure this donation to make life easier for those in need,” explained Paul Anderson, Port Tampa Bay CEO and President.

The port also provided rolls of toilet paper to staff in need. Port Tampa Bay staff are considered essential employees by the Department of Homeland Security and have continued to work during the pandemic to support the critical infrastructure needs of our community and region. You can learn more about their efforts here, Port Tampa Bay Remains Open for Business.

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Watch our interview with Port of Tampa Bay

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