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Ships Ahoy! State Is Tops For Cruises

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By TED JACKOVICS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 30, 2007

TAMPA - Florida led the nation in passengers taking cruises out of state last year, and the Port of Tampa ranked seventh among ports nationwide in the number of people boarding cruise ships, a new study says.

The study by the Cruise Lines International Assoc., a trade group, found that about 5 million people, or 56 percent of those who boarded cruise ships in the United States last year, sailed from one of Florida's five cruise ports.

Among those ports, Tampa ranked fourth, with 457,000 people boarding cruise ships.

Miami logged the most cruise line passengers nationwide in 2006, followed by Port Canaveral and Port Everglades near Ft. Lauderdale. Galveston, Texas, and Los Angeles were fourth and fifth, respectively. New York edged out Tampa to rank sixth with 536,000 cruise line passengers.

Overall, cruise lines and their passengers spent $17.6 billion on U.S. goods and services in 2006, up 9 percent from the previous year. The report said the cruise industry in Florida accounted for $5.8 billion in wages, supplies and rent last year, up nearly 7 percent, and 125,104 jobs.

'Florida remains the U.S. cruise capital in industry spending and job creation,' said Terry Dale, president and CEO of CLIA.

'Cruises are a very important component at the Port of Tampa,' port spokesman Andrew Fobes said.

The port's preliminary budget estimate for 2008 predicts cruise industry fees will total $6.2 million, or 20 percent of the total annual fees paid to the port.

The annual report noted:

•Travel agencies, airlines, hotels, restaurants and ground transportation providers were the main beneficiaries of cruise industry spending in Florida, receiving $2.4 billion.

•Another $821 million was spent in the following sectors: food processors, chemical manufacturers, advertising agencies, management and technical consulting companies and manpower agencies.

Florida is headquarters for three cruise companies that own three-fourths of the North American industry cruise capacity: Carnival Corp. PLC, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., and NCL Corp. In addition, Florida is home to Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, SeaDream Yacht Club and Silversea Cruises.

Port officials expect Tampa to add a fifth cruise ship by 2010, which should compensate for the loss of the Celebrity Cruises ship Zenith.

The Zenith is scheduled to return to its home port of New Orleans next year after sailing from Tampa for the past two years in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's damage.

However, local port officials also face challenges to expand Tampa's cruise ship lineup. For one, the Sunshine Skyway, which spans the entry to Tampa Bay between Pinellas and Manatee counties, is not tall enough to permit newer, larger cruise ships to reach the port, a top Carnival Cruise Lines official said in 2003.

That could relegate Tampa to 'secondary' cruise port status. The bridge has a clearance of 182.8 feet above water, but some new cruise ships are 30 to 50 feet taller.

Also, Carnival has said it tries to schedule sailings from multiple ports in Florida for the convenience of passengers. This month, Carnival assigned the 2,052-passenger Carnival Fascination to replace the 1,486 passenger Celebration for cruises from Jacksonville beginning in September 2008, which adds to the competing city's inventory of cruise ship staterooms.

Another issue Florida port officials are monitoring closely is whether Disney Cruise Lines might expand or relocate its Florida operations. Disney's contract with Port Canaveral expires next summer. Miami and Port Everglades are considered potential competitors for landing the Disney cruises.

Disney plans to double its fleet by 2012 from two to four. Tampa officials have answered questions about talks with Disney by saying only that they talk with 'all the cruise lines' about expanding sailings from the local port.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at tjackovics@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7817.

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