PortMiami, the world’s busiest cruise port, again surpassed the 4 million mark for cruise passengers traveling through its facilities in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2013.
PortMiami processed 4,030,356 multi-day passengers last fiscal year. Additionally, 48,173 single-day passengers traveled between PortMiami and the Bahamas on daily service.
Port director Bill Johnson said the 2013 cruise season was one of PortMiami’s best with the addition of two new cruise brands — Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Disney Cruise Line — and the arrival of three new build ships including: Carnival Breeze, Celebrity Reflection and Oceania Riviera.
“Last year marked our greatest fleet expansion ever in a single cruise season,” Johnson said. “Looking ahead, 2014 promises to be yet another banner year. We are anticipating a surge in cruise traffic with close to 5 million cruise passengers traveling through PortMiami in the coming year.”
New for the 2014 cruise season is MSC Cruises, which began sailing one of its newest ships, MSC Divina, from Miami in November.
Additionally, PortMiami will welcome Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship, the Norwegian Getaway, in February.
Both the MSC Divina and the Norwegian Getaway will homeport yearround at PortMiami adding an important boost to the cruise schedule.
“PortMiami is proud to be known worldwide as the ‘Cruise Capital of the World,’” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. “We look forward to continued growth and expansion of the cruise industry, which contributes significantly to the local economy.”
PortMiami contributes $27 million annually to the local and state economies and supports more than 200,000 jobs.
Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners chair Rebeca Sosa joined with vice chair Lynda Bell in congratulating PortMiami on again surpassing the 4 million mark for cruise passengers. “With 13 cruise lines sailing from our port, offering an exciting array of diverse itineraries that fit any budget or taste, we can proudly say that cruising from Miami has never been better,” Commissioner Sosa said.
“PortMiami’s new advertising campaign sums up PortMiami’s success. PortMiami — Cruise Capital of the World — always was, always will be,’ Commissioner Bell added. “You cannot say it better.”
Miami is home to the world’s leading cruise lines: Aida Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Resorts World Bimini, and Royal Caribbean International.
For more information visit online at www.miamidade.gov/portmiami.