Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival Eyes Canaveral as Homeport for New Ship

Carnival Cruise Line has reached an agreement in principle with the Canaveral Port Authority on a new terminal able to accommodate its new 180,000-ton ship set to debut in 2020.

Image Courtesy: Carnival Cruise Line

The terms of the agreement are expected to be included on the agenda of the Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners’ meeting on August 29, 2018.

If approved, the agreement will clear the way for Carnival Cruise Line’s plans to homeport the as-yet-unnamed 5,286-lower berth ship at Port Canaveral.

“We are very excited about the prospects of homeporting our largest ship at Port Canaveral, a valued business partner for more than 25 years,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

The vessel, the largest ever constructed for the line, will be the first North American-based cruise ship to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), part of Carnival Corporation’s “green cruising” design platform.

Construction of the 180,000-ton cruise ship is scheduled to begin in November 2018 with the official steel-cutting ceremony at the Meyer-Werft shipyard in Turku, Finland.

The line currently has three year-round ships based in Port Canaveral carrying upwards of 650,000 passengers a year. In October, Carnival Cruise Line will also reposition the newer Carnival Breeze to homeport at Port Canaveral.