New Carnival sailings out of Port Canaveral begin this week
— -- As the Carnival Ecstasy sailed into Port Canaveral for the first time Monday evening, it brought a potential $50 million-a-year economic impact for the Space Coast. Port Canaveral estimates the cruise ship's presence will directly generate 400 jobs and add 600 spinoff jobs.
The ship is Carnival's third ship based at Brevard County's seaport, joining the Dream and the Sensation. It will sail to the Bahamas on four- and five-day itineraries.
With these three ships, Carnival will carry roughly 600,000 passengers a year from Port Canaveral — the most of any cruise line — and will offer its customers trips of three, four, five and seven days.
Carnival public relations manager Vance Gulliksen calls that "an unprecedented array of cruise lengths and itineraries" during Carnival's presence at Port Canaveral, which dates to 1990.
Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer J. Stanley Payne said the new ship "supports our belief that we have not reached our full potential in the cruise market and validates the decision to build our state-of the-art Cruise Terminal 6," largely for use by Carnival. The $60.1 million terminal, pier and parking garage project is scheduled for completion in July.
A Martin Associates study of Port Canaveral's economic impact bases the number of direct jobs created by a new cruise ship by estimating new jobs at firms providing services to the vessel, as well as new jobs at local hotels, restaurants, transportation firms and retail stores providing services to the passengers.
The economic impact includes the value of supplies and other provisions used by passengers and crew on the ship and various services used by the ship, as well as local spending by passengers and crew before and after the cruise at local hotels, restaurants, bars, retail stores and entertainment establishments.
The Ecstasy is Port Canaveral's seventh year-round cruise ship, with Disney and Royal Caribbean each having two based there.
"This sets us apart," Payne said, "sending a further message to travel agents and the cruising public that not only do we have a wide variety of choices for cruises, but we offer them year-round, whenever you would like to cruise."
A record 1.55 million passengers boarded multiday cruises from Port Canaveral in the 2011 budget year that ended Sept. 30, up 13.9 percent from the previous year.
"The growth of Port Canaveral as a cruise departure point is truly extraordinary, and millions of consumers have discovered the benefits of sailing from this convenient and centrally located home port," Carnival President and Chief Executive Officer Gerry Cahill said in a statement released Monday. "The Canaveral Port Authority is an outstanding business partner, and deploying a third year-round ship is a testament to our relationship with the port and our confidence in its continued success."
Oivind Mathisen, editor of the trade publication Cruise Industry News, said it is "obviously a good sign that cruise lines are putting more ships at Port Canaveral" at a time they are reducing their passenger capacities elsewhere, notably at West Coast ports.
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