PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – A new cruise line is soon sailing out of Port Canaveral.
CEO Capt. John Murray and other cruise line executives held a news conference Tuesday morning to announce Princess Cruises is heading to Port Canaveral.
“We’re so grateful and excited to have Princess Cruises part of our port family. It illustrates again the growing popularity of the port and cruising in general, not only throughout the U.S., but the world. And I want to make it clear that it’s very important to us to establish relationships such as this and their success is our success,” said Kevin Markey, chairman of Canaveral Port Authority.
Princess Cruises will join Port Canaveral in November 2024.
“Port Canaveral is the total package, when you think about it from a port standpoint. You have a great port top to bottom, left to right. You have an amazing vibrant Central Florida community, you know, with drive markets expand the southeast and even further. You have a great airport with Orlando International Airport that has more flight options affordable flight and affordable landing fees that make it make sense for airlines to service the community,” said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises.
Padgett said 6-, 8-, and 14-day trips to the Caribbean will begin at the end of the year to ports such as St. Thomas and Amber Cove.
The ship, Caribbean Princess, can carry 3,000 people with “all the features and benefits you can think about” across 19 decks.
“This is truly a first for Port Canaveral to have a ship and experience like Princess, it is a first report, and we’re very excited about being first to do this with you and make it happen with a Princess ship,” said Terry Thornton, head of commercial integration for Princess Cruises.
One man attending the press conference was not excited about another ship coming to the world’s busiest cruise port.
He asked Padgett why the port needs another cruise ship, to which he responded it will create local jobs.
“I see you creating jobs for people from other countries, not for the local community,” the man said.
News 6 asked the port’s CEO to respond to critics of the port’s growth.
Last month, Murray said the port is budgeting to build another new terminal in a few years.
“Uncontrolled growth is not the way we operate here,” Murray said. “We’re very controlled in how we grow. It’s not about greed. I think that’s probably the wrong word to be using. What we do is we invest in the infrastructure and the port itself.”
The announcement comes days after the inaugural sailing of the Marella Discovery from Port Canaveral.
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