The Cruise Hive Cruise Ship Awards are an annual occasion recognizing one of the best within the trade, as voted on by Cruise Hive readers. One of essentially the most carefully contested classes is Best Homeport, which acknowledges the highest ports that function the place to begin for cruise holidays.
This 12 months, Port Canaveral got here out on high, incomes 24% of the votes and taking the first-place spot. It is the third 12 months in a row that Port Canaveral has taken the highest spot, adopted carefully by Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Port Canaveral is the Best Homeport within the United States
Located on the east coast of Florida, Port Canaveral is the second busiest cruise port on this planet and is dwelling to most of the trade’s high cruise strains, together with Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International.
Port Canaveral gives quick access to greater than 50 locations, together with the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Eastern and Western Mexico.
The quick access, quick switch from the airport, parking availability, and quick access to Orlando’s many theme parks imply that a few of the thousands and thousands of friends crusing from Port Canaveral every year have dubbed it one of the best Cruise Homeport within the Cruise Hive Ship Awards 2022.
Voting began in September 2022 on the Cruise Hive web site. Readers have been capable of solid a single vote in every of the seven classes. The last outcomes don’t embrace any repeat votes or suspicious exercise.
Coming in second place with 22% of the votes was PortMiami, also called the “Cruise Capital of the World.” Located on the southeastern tip of Florida, PortMiami is the busiest cruise port on this planet.
In third place with 11% of the votes was Port Everglades, situated in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is the third busiest cruise port on this planet and is dwelling to numerous cruise strains, together with Carnival, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean.
In fourth place, we discover the primary non-Florida port, the Port of Galveston, Texas, with 8% of the votes. Located on the Gulf of Mexico, the port is changing into more and more fashionable, with extra cruise strains stationing larger and newer vessels within the final 12 months. These embrace Allure of the Seas, Norwegian Prima, and from subsequent 12 months, Carnival Jubilee.
It’s no shock that these 4 ports took the highest spots within the Best Homeport class, as they’re all main gamers within the cruise trade and provide a variety of locations for vacationers to select from. Together they serve greater than 15 million cruise passengers every year.
Port Canaveral’s Unique Growth
Port Canaveral may be the second greatest cruise homeport worldwide right this moment, however it wasn’t at all times like that. The port started operations in 1953 as a cargo and naval port. The first cruise terminal opened in 1982.
Carnival Cruise Line grew to become the primary cruise line to make use of Port Canaveral as a homeport in 1990 completely. Disney Cruise Line adopted in 1998, and Royal Caribbean in 2000.
Today, Port Canaveral is dwelling to 6 cruise terminals and was the primary port within the United States to welcome and refuel the environmentally friendlier LNG-powered Excel-Class cruise ship Mardi Gras in 2021. The $163 million terminal, berth, and 1,800-vehicle parking storage was the biggest capital mission within the Port’s historical past.
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Port Canaveral had 792 cruise ship calls and 4.1 million passengers in the course of the 2021-22 monetary 12 months, the primary full 12 months of operations because the world pause in operations. For the 2022-2023 monetary 12 months, that quantity is anticipated to extend to 904 cruise ship calls and 5.8 million passengers.