New MSC ship coming to Port Canaveral; cruise business gets stronger; mask requirements eased
Port Canaveral's cruise business is continuing to steadily recover from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
And, on Monday, port officials got more good news, with MSC Cruises' announcement that will be basing the MSC Seaside at Port Canaveral in the summer of 2023.
The Seaside is one of MSC's larger and newer ships. It has 2,066 cabins, a capacity of 5,336 passengers and a crew of 1,413, and joined the fleet in 2017.
The Seaside will offer various itineraries from Port Canaveral, including:
Three- and four-night cruises to Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, MSC's private island in the Bahamas.
Seven-night sailings to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico; Belize; and Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
The sailings will begin on April 16, 2023, and will run until at least Oct. 22, 2023.
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Separately, Carnival Cruise Line last week made a ship swap at Port Canaveral, replacing the Carnival Elation with the newer and larger Carnival Freedom. The Freedom now is one of four Carnival ships based at Port Canaveral, joining the Mardi Gras, Carnival Liberty and Carnival Magic.
In another development affecting Port Canaveral cruising, updated federal guidelines have removed face covering requirements inside cruise terminals. Individual cruise lines now are able to establish their own rules for their terminals.
Why MSC is bringing Seaside
MSC Cruises USA President Rubén Rodríguez said the Seaside's deployment at Port Canaveral is part of the cruise line's push to expand in North America.
“We remain committed to growing in North America and the Caribbean, which is why we’ll have more options here next summer than ever before — more ships, more home ports and more amazing destinations," Rodriguez said. "We want our guests to relax and enjoy an unforgettable vacation at sea, whether that means experiencing the unrivaled natural beauty of Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve on our Caribbean itineraries or exploring the North Atlantic with a breathtaking cruise through New England and Canada.”
Among other U.S.-based MSC ships in the summer of 2023 will be:
The MSC Magnifica, with three- and four-night sailings from Miami to Key West and the Bahamas.
The MSC Seascape, with seven-night sailings from Miami to the eastern and western Caribbean.
The MSC Meraviglia, with a range of sailings of various durations from New York to the Caribbean, Bermuda, New England and Canada.
MSC said the Seaside is a ship designed for U.S./Caribbean cruises, with its more outdoor-oriented design than most cruise ships, including a wrap-around deck down toward the water level, along with more sunny spots up top.
“People cruising from Central Florida want to soak up the sun, and bringing MSC Seaside to Port Canaveral gives them more space relax to outdoors while they’re on board,” Rodríguez said. “The Seaside class of ships is specially designed for Caribbean cruising, with features like pools, dining and outdoor decks located lower and close to the sea."
Among the Seaside's other features:
The Waterfront Boardwalk offers glass skywalks for views of the sea, along with a wide variety of restaurants and bars.
The South Beach Pool on Deck 7 is a highlight of the ship’s outdoor-focused design, alongside a variety of other pools and hot tubs on board.
The MSC Yacht Club offers passengers the luxury of a private club, while preserving access to all the recreation and entertainment options on the rest of the ship
Forest Aquaventure Park and MSC Kids Club.
Seven restaurants, plus 17 bars and lounges.
The Seaside will be the third MSC ship to be based at Port Canaveral at various times.
MSC's commitment: MSC Cruises extends its sailings from Port Canaveral into 2023, with Meraviglia
Shift of ships: Carnival bringing Freedom cruise ship to Port Canaveral, replacing smaller Elation
The MSC Divina is sailing from Port Canaveral through October. The ship started sailing from Port Canaveral in its current deployment this month, replacing the MSC Meraviglia. The Divina has 1,751 cabins, a capacity of 4,345 passengers and a crew of 1,388, and joined the fleet in 2012.
The Divina previously was based at Port Canaveral from September to December 2021, when it was replaced by the Meraviglia.
The Meraviglia will return to Port Canaveral for the winter season in October 2022. It has 2,244 cabins, a capacity of 5,655 passengers and a crew of 1,536, and joined the fleet in 2017.
"MSC is committed" to Port Canaveral, "and we're very excited," Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Murray told Canaveral Port Authority commissioners.
In a statement, Murray said that Port Canaveral is "excited to welcome the MSC Seaside to Port Canaveral when she arrives next year and very proud of our partnership with MSC Cruises. Deploying this beautiful Seaside-class ship, the new flagship in the MSC fleet, speaks of MSC's commitment to our port and a testament to the best-in-class experience we provide for their guests.”
Swiss-based MSC Cruises is seeking to expand its share of the North American market. MSC is the world’s third-largest cruise brand (behind Carnival and Royal Caribbean), as well as the leader in Europe, South America, the Persian Gulf region and southern Africa. It has 19 ships in its fleet. The fleet is projected to grow to 23 cruise ships by 2025, with options for six more vessel orders in place through 2030.
The company's strength in Europe is demonstrated in the company's summer 2023 sailing details, with six ships having eastern Mediterranean itineraries, five ships having western Mediterranean itineraries and five ships having northern Europe itineraries.
Carnival brings larger ship
Carnival Cruise Line on Thursday brought the Carnival Freedom to Port Canaveral.
The Freedom will offer four- and five-night sailings to the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean on various itinerates. Among its ports of call on its sailings will be 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 home-ported at Port Canaveral,” Murray said, in discussing the ship's deployment at Port Canaveral. “Her arrival adds even more quality cruise sailings available from our port. We’re very proud of our long-standing partnership with Carnival Cruise Line, and our collective efforts to provide an exceptional cruising experience.”
The Freedom replaces the smaller Carnival Elation at Port Canaveral.
The Freedom has 1,490 cabins, a capacity of 3,754 passengers and a crew of 1,150, and joined the fleet in 2007.
The Elation has 1,026 cabins, a capacity of 2,606 passengers and a crew of 920, and joined the fleet in 1998.
In a statement, Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy said: "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 home ports. 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."
These are the key numbers for Carnival's three other ships based at Port Canaveral;
The Liberty has 1,487 cabins, a capacity of 3,756 passengers and a crew of 1,160, and joined the fleet in 2005.
The Magic has 1,845 cabins, a capacity of 4,724 passengers and a crew of 1,386, and joined the fleet in 2011.
The Mardi Gras has 2,641 cabins, a capacity of 6,465 passengers and a crew of 1,745, and joined the fleet in 2021. It is Carnival's newest and largest ship, and the first in the fleet to be powered by liquefied natural gas.
Carnival's four ships are the most of any cruise line based at Port Canaveral. Royal Caribbean has three, Disney has two, and MSC has one.
In keeping with maritime tradition, Port Canaveral executives on Thursday presented Carnival Freedom's captain, Josip Mladina, with a plaque during a dockside ceremony at Cruise Terminal 6, marking the cruise ship’s first visit to Port Canaveral.
Mask policy change
Murray said another positive development for the port is a change in federal guidelines instituted last week on face coverings at cruise terminals.
They no longer are required, under federal rules, although individual cruise lines can still have such policies, if they choose, for staff and/or passengers, because they control the rules at terminals when they have ships in port.
"It's all good news, and another step toward normal operations," Murray said.
Strong passenger counts
Murray said Port Canaveral-based cruise ships are "running at higher capacity every month," averaging at more than 75% of their double-occupancy capacity, with some cruise lines running higher and some lower.
"We're back into a more normal routine," Murray said. "The ships are not full, but they are getting there."
Based on data for the first six months of the port's Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022, budget year, Murray predicts that the port will register about 4.6 million passenger movements for the full budget year, with "upside potential on that."
A passenger movement is someone getting on or off a Port Canaveral-based ship, So those passengers are, in effect, counted twice — as is the industry norm. It also is how ports compute one component of revenue from the cruise lines.
For "port-of-call" ships not based at Port Canaveral, but making a stop there, passengers are counted just once.
Murray told port commissioners at their meeting on Wednesday that weekly passenger counts at Port Canaveral show "steady progression of cruise coming back," except for a dip during January's surge in COVID-19 omicron variant cases.
Port Canaveral is the world's second-busiest cruise terminal, based on passenger volume.
The cruise business was halted there for 16½ months — from mid-March 2020 until July 31, 2021 — because of the pandemic.
For the first six months of the current budget year, Port Canaveral had revenue from cruise ships and cruise-related parking of $40.62 million, which is 2.9% above the budgeted revenue of $39.48 million.
Murray said port staff counts are returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Murray said the port's current budget has authorization for 238 staff positions, but the port has some vacancies to fill, so it has 200 to 220 on the payroll.
In July 2020, the port is cut 115 positions through a combination of layoffs, unpaid furloughs and leaving vacant positions unfilled, largely because of the halt to cruising. That represented about 43% of the port's pre-coronavirus staff level of 268, and left the port with 153 employees on the payroll at the time.
Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bydaveberman.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Port Canaveral cruise business strengthens; new MSC ship announced
