One of largest cruise ships makes Port Canaveral home
One of the world's largest cruise ships will move into its new winter home at Port Canaveral this weekend.
Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas sails into the port for the first time on Saturday.
The ship has a capacity of 6,360 passengers and has a crew of 2,394. It will replace Royal Caribbean's 3,634-passenger Freedom of the Seas at Port Canaveral.
“Our community has been excited about Oasis of the Seas, since Royal Caribbean International made the announcement” in March 2015 that the ship would be coming here, Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Murray said in a statement released by the port. “And we have been busy readying ourselves for the increase in passengers by working with our ground transportation and other partners to make this transition to our next level of cruising as smooth as possible for the cruise line and their guests.”
Another mega-ship, the Norwegian Cruise Line's Epic, will join the Port Canaveral lineup a week later. That ship, built in 2010, has a double-occupancy passenger capacity of 4,100 and a crew of 1,708.
With the two new ships, "we'll have more passengers passing through the port," Murray said.
And more passengers using Port Canaveral will mean more people spending money at local hotels, restaurants and attractions.
"It just trickles down to a lot more people in the area visiting and spending money in the local businesses," said Margaret Bodchon, owner and vice president of Merritt Island-based SunWard Tours, which arranges tours from Port Canaveral for a number of cruise ships.
Bonnie King, deputy director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism, said having these ships at Port Canaveral will be good for local hotels and the rest of the tourism industry.
"Welcoming these two grand ships gives the Space Coast another opportunity to showcase our area as a future vacation destination," King said. "The snooze-and-cruise packages that are offered through the hotels are a very strong tool that encourages the cruisers to arrive a day or two before their adventure begins. With the amount of people that will be boarding these two ships, coupled with the people who are boarding other ships in the port, the economic impact to our community is huge."
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The Oasis, built in 2009, will offer seven- and eight-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral for the 2016-17 fall and winter season.
Currently, the Oasis of the Seas is the world's third-largest ship, based on passenger capacity, behind two other Royal Caribbean "Oasis-class" ships — the Harmony of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas.
The Oasis will be based at Port Canaveral's newest cruise terminal, Cruise Terminal 1, which is the only major cruise terminal on the port's south side, just east of the Cove restaurant district.
The $104.6 million, 188,000-square-foot Cruise Terminal 1, and an adjacent 1,007-vehicle parking garage, opened in December 2014, The terminal complex was designed to accommodate Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class ships.
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The Norwegian Epic will sail out of Port Canaveral on six- and seven-day cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, with some three- and four-day cruises to the Bahamas. It will be based at Port Canaveral's newly renovated Cruise Terminal 10.
The cruise line announced in March that the ship would return for the fall and winter of 2017-18, following its stay for the fall and winter of 2016-17.
"Our community can take great pride in the fact that our port is making a very powerful statement showing everyone that
Port Canaveral is a world-class cruise port," King said.
Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByDaveBerman and on Facebook at facebook.com/dave.berman.54
Oasis of the Seas specs
Operated by: Royal Caribbean International
Registry: Bahamas
Built in: Turku, Finland
Maiden voyage: Dec. 5, 2009
Tonnage: 225,282 gross registered tons
Length: 1,187 feet
Width: 215 feet
Height: 213 feet above the water line
Draft: 30 feet
Cruising speed: 22 knots (about 25.3 mph)
Decks: 16 passenger decks, 18 total decks
Passenger capacity: 5,400 at double occupancy; 6.360 at maximum capacity
Crew: 2,394 from more than 70 countries
Most recent dry-dock renovation: October 2014
Godmothers: Gloria Estefan, Daisy Fuentes, Shawn Johnson, Michelle Kwan, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Jane Seymour and Dara Torres
Community celebrates Nov. 12 and 13
The Canaveral Port Authority will hold "Sail-a-Bration" events at Jetty Park from 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 12 to commemorate the Norwegian Epic making Port Canaveral its home and from 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 13 to mark the Oasis of the Seas making Port Canaveral its home.
Free admission begins at 2 p.m.
There will be entertainment and giveaways.
Attendees are asked to bring a nonperishable food item as a donation to the Sharing Center of Central Brevard.
Master plan open houses
Port Canaveral on Thursday will hold three open houses to gather comments for its master plan, a long-range planning document focused on goals the port would like to achieve in the years ahead.
The Canaveral Port Authority has retained Bermello Ajamil & Partners Inc. to assist in assembling a strategic master plan that provides for a 20-year vision for the cruise, cargo, commercial, recreation and public open space aspects of the port.
All the meetings will be at locations within the port district. They are:
• 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., Port Canaveral Maritime Center, 445 Challenger Road, Port Canaveral
• 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Port Canaveral Logistics Center, 7700 S. Washington Av., Titusville.
• 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Merritt Island High School Cafeteria, Merritt Island.