Return to BTJ Online

Still Cruising
Strength and growth of Port Canaveral's cruise industry continues even after September 11

By Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

Two additional cruise ships will take up residence at Port Canaveral this month, reflecting the national health of the cruise industry and the growth of Brevard County's seaport as a cruise leader.

Holland America and Royal Olympic Cruises will join the port's stable of multi-day itinerary cruise lines, which includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean. Norwegian Cruise Lines will join the lineup next year, with a New York-based cruise to the Caribbean that allows for embarkation at Canaveral.

The strength of the industry demonstrates a resilience after Sept. 11 that surprised even the experts.

"They have actually made more money than last year," Oivind Mathisen, editor of Cruise Industry News, said of cruise lines as an industry.

Moving ships from Europe and other foreign ports to U.S. ports and cutting prices kept people cruising and resulted in a profitable year, experts say.

"They watched their bottom lines very carefully," Mathisen said of the large cruise lines. "They'll change prices on a single cabin several times a day. The second demand increases, the price increases; the second demand drops, the price drops."

Lower prices might have encouraged passengers to spend more money on board, further bettering the bottom line. "If you paid less for your cruise, maybe you feel you have more money to spend," Mathisen said. Ships are increasingly accommodating passengers' desire to spend: "Some ships practically have malls," he said.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, experts assumed cruise lines would suffer just like the rest of the leisure industry. Instead, passengers found ways to get to their ships even when national air travel was disrupted, said Molly McPherson, director of communications for the International Council of Cruise Lines.

Cruise lines then instituted what proved to be a very effective strategy: They removed ships from New York and from overseas ports, such as in the Mediterranean and South America, and moved them closer to home for U.S. passengers. New Orleans, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other ports that didn't before have a large cruising presence gained ships.

That plan reduced reliance on air travel for many potential cruisers and encouraged more people to take part. The result was that nearly 1.7 million North American passengers cruised during the first quarter of this year, only a slight 1.6 percent increase over the same period the year before - but an increase nonetheless. ICCL expects passenger totals to hit a record 7.4 million by the end of the year.

Florida's share of that figure remains secure, in part because of the rising popularity of Caribbean cruises, McPherson said. The state accounts for more than half cruises taken nationwide, with Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades handling the bulk of the state's cruise business.

New and bigger ships at a variety of ports will help the growth continue, too. New ships used to head directly to Miami or New York, Mathisen said. But today, they're as likely to dock at a smaller cruise port. The change means that cruisers have more of a reason to return to the port. "People say, 'Let's go back and try the new ship,'" he said. "It drives the market."

Carnival launched its new ship, Pride, from Port Canaveral this year. Coming this month, the Holland America Zaandam is one of the company's newer ships, the cruise line said. The ship will be the cruise line's first to dock at Port Canaveral. Royal Olympic's entry will be the first ship at the port to offer itineraries longer than seven days.

To his surprise, the industry continues to sustain its growth, Mathisen said. "They're building bigger ships to hold down costs, putting more bodies on a ship and giving more opportunities to spend," he said. "They've been able to fill the ships."