Agreement Finalized Between Disney Cruise Line and Port Everglades

[Kennywood]

Agreement Finalized Between Disney Cruise Line and Port Everglades
by Jackie Gailey

Port Canaveral has been Disney Cruise Line’s primary terminal in Florida, with the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy currently sailing from there. The older ships – the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder – have been sailing seasonally out of PortMiami since 2012. The Disney Magic began sailing once again out of PortMiami last month.

In May of this year, Port Everglades was given the go-ahead from Broward County to start discussions with Disney Cruise Line, who was beginning to shop around for a second year-round port in Florida. Port Everglades would be the perfect option as DCL does not want to share its terminal with another cruise line. They have their eyes explicitly set on Cruise Terminal 4 as it’s very close to Fort Lauderdale’s convention center and has an extensive parking garage as well as a hotel closeby. The Port’s proximity to the Fort Lauderdale International airport also proposes to be a significant benefit.

According to The Orlando Sentinel, “the new deal will see the cruise line begin a 15-year lease as early as October 2023 with options to extend it to up to 30 years. It calls for year-round use of Cruise Terminal 4 for the first two years, and then adding access to a second terminal to be determined down the line.”

Port Everglades has not hosted a Disney ship previously for any reason other than in an emergency.

The deal does not mention a specific ship that would sail out of Port Everglades, but the language confirms that any of DCL’s current vessels, the upcoming Disney Wish, and its two sister ships coming in 2024 and 2025 could dock there. We should also note that the Disney Wish and its two sister ships will run on liquefied natural gas, which is not currently available at Port Everglades.

The new agreement shows that DCL and the Port would share the estimated $12 million price tag on the redesign of Cruise Terminal 4. Disney would also fork over half a million dollars toward $2 million worth of marine-side improvements for the ship berth.

Details in the agreement outline enhancements that could provide a similar feel to Cruise Terminal 8 at Port Canaveral with upgraded check-in kiosks, room for 1,000 seats with mobile device charging stations, and digital screens for information and entertainment.

Plans are for work on the terminal to be mostly finished by Oct. 15, 2023, and completed by Nov. 30, 2023.

The agreement states that DCL could “begin sailing as early as Oct. 1, 2023 and no later than May 1, 2024. Plans are for it to base at least one ship at the Port year-round doing four- and five-night sailings. For the first two fiscal years, the line is guaranteeing 400,000 passengers annually, which will then grow to 750,000 passengers from year three through the end of the potential 30-year contract run.”

Source: www.dclfan.com

 

[lorimay]

I cannot wait to sail from Ft. Lauderdale, we thought Miami was awesome, this is literally 10-15 minutes from our backyard.

 

[Sleepyluke]

So what is the thinking on the new port? Is it a replacement for Miami? Long term add on for the new ships? Just does not make sense to me to have 3 ports that close together. They all run the same directional and time based cruises. I get they need more space with the new ships coming, but Port Canaveral keeps money in the Disney bubble for roughly 50% of the people I would guess. I think they will spend at least a little money in Orlando. Miami is a separate port for financial purposes, even though it is only a few hours down the road, and Fort Lauderdale is actually an airport people fly into sometimes for either one, splitting the difference. Why not Tampa? Still south Florida, but a day closer to western and somewhat southern routes. What am I missing?

 

[cgolf]

Just be prepared to pay very high hotel prices. We have found that area to be the most expensive to cruise out of. Other than that the weather is great and it is a nice area.

 

[erionm]

So what is the thinking on the new port? Is it a replacement for Miami?

It's possible they might stop sailing out of Port Miami at some point since they currently share a cruise terminal with MSC. DCL is taking over CT4 at Port Everglades which doesn't currently have a tenant and the terminal will be receive interior and exterior modifications in order to meet Disney Cruise Line’s operating standards and meet Disney’s guest experience standards.

 

[Intr3pid]

So what is the thinking on the new port? Is it a replacement for Miami? Long term add on for the new ships? Just does not make sense to me to have 3 ports that close together. They all run the same directional and time based cruises. I get they need more space with the new ships coming, but Port Canaveral keeps money in the Disney bubble for roughly 50% of the people I would guess. I think they will spend at least a little money in Orlando. Miami is a separate port for financial purposes, even though it is only a few hours down the road, and Fort Lauderdale is actually an airport people fly into sometimes for either one, splitting the difference. Why not Tampa? Still south Florida, but a day closer to western and somewhat southern routes. What am I missing?

CC is essential to premium-pricing the itineraries. Sailing out of Tampa will add a day or half to the Bahamas runs involving CC. And these are the 4- and 5-nighters already short on time. Miami or Fort Lauderdale should normally be the choice, but - beyond the shared terminal - they are hosting many more ships and exert considerable pricing power. Everglades will probably offer better financials.

 

[princesscinderella]

I’m so excited for this too! I’m hoping I can get a part time job for Disney working at the port for the employee discounts.

 

[insureman]

I would much rather sail out of Fort Lauderdale vs Miami. Miami's airport is a nightmare.

 

[hrhdhd]

Why not Tampa? Still south Florida, but a day closer to western and somewhat southern routes. What am I missing?

Only relatively small ships can fit under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I am not sure if the Magic and Wonder could fit, but the others couldn't. (Edit: reading an older post, someone says even on the older ships the funnels won't fit.)

 

[Happytycho]

So what is the thinking on the new port? Is it a replacement for Miami? Long term add on for the new ships? Just does not make sense to me to have 3 ports that close together. They all run the same directional and time based cruises. I get they need more space with the new ships coming, but Port Canaveral keeps money in the Disney bubble for roughly 50% of the people I would guess. I think they will spend at least a little money in Orlando. Miami is a separate port for financial purposes, even though it is only a few hours down the road, and Fort Lauderdale is actually an airport people fly into sometimes for either one, splitting the difference. Why not Tampa? Still south Florida, but a day closer to western and somewhat southern routes. What am I missing?

It's going to be a replacement for Miami. For example, this new agreement calls for Disney to start sailing from Port Everglades no later than May 1, 2024 because Disney's current agreement with Port Miami runs through April 30, 2024.

A big reason that DCL wants a presence in Miami or Fort Lauderdale specifically is that those are the only two large US ports from which a cruise ship can reasonably sail to Lighthouse Point overnight.

 

[Sleepyluke]

Ok, this makes more sense. I did not realize the Miami end date lining up. Thanks again for answers!

 

[bethy]

I'm a little bummed to see the reference to shorter length cruises. I would really like more 7 night options!

I do really like Fort Lauderdale better than Miami for cruising though!

 

[erionm]

I'm a little bummed to see the reference to shorter length cruises. I would really like more 7 night options!

I do really like Fort Lauderdale better than Miami for cruising though!

I'm sure DCL will eventually add 7 night sailings out of Port Everglades. They have 2 more ships (after the Wish) on order for delivery in 2024 and 2025 so they will need to spread the fleet around some.

 

[erionm]

I think one of the primary driving factors in DCLs decision to home port at Port Everglades is the year-round exclusive use of Cruise Terminal 4. That gives DCL a lot of control over the customer experience once they step inside the terminal building.

 

[Happytycho]

I'm sure DCL will eventually add 7 night sailings out of Port Everglades. They have 2 more ships (after the Wish) on order for delivery in 2024 and 2025 so they will need to spread the fleet around some.

I wouldn't be too sure about 7 night sailings out of Port Everglades anytime soon. Every indication we have from DCL is that they plan to dump a large majority of the new capacity into short 3 to 5 night sailings. There should still be some new capacity available for more or different or higher-capacity long and unique sailings but I would be pretty shocked if they used it to add more 7 night Caribbean cruises from Port Everglades when there are so many more interesting things they could do instead.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Just be prepared to pay very high hotel prices. We have found that area to be the most expensive to cruise out of. Other than that the weather is great and it is a nice area.

No worse than Miami.

 

[Sykes]

I don't expect a ton of short sailings from Port Everglades. I'm sure there will be some, but I suspect that they will keep the majority of shorter sailings from Port Canaveral for easy pairing with a WDW pre/post trip. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the longer Fantasy sailings move there (along with the obvious shift from Miami for the Magic and Wonder sailings that use it).

 

[Kwami]

I don't expect a ton of short sailings from Port Everglades. I'm sure there will be some, but I suspect that they will keep the majority of shorter sailings from Port Canaveral for easy pairing with a WDW pre/post trip. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the longer Fantasy sailings move there (along with the obvious shift from Miami for the Magic and Wonder sailings that use it).

From Scott's summary of the agreement on The DCL Blog:

Beginning March 1, 2025, a second passenger cruise ship berth and its adjoining cruise passenger terminal facilities shall be assigned by the Port Everglades Department to Disney Cruise Line for 3- and 4-night itineraries operating on a Monday/Friday rotation.

Stemming from prior commission meetings, Disney Cruise Line was planning to homeport a vessel year round vessel sailing 5/5/4-night cruises with future additional seasonal ship deployments.

So, it looks like short sailings are the primary goal here.

 

[cgolf]

No worse than Miami.

Yup, same area, but we are trying to avoid those areas and do Tampa and Port Canaveral. Unfortunatly our 2023 cruise we couldn't because of the itenerary. It's not a deal breaker per say, we just would rather spend on the ship than on land. Hopefully it won't be any worse than when we were down there super bowl weekend in 2020, those prices were really nuts and finding a place was next to impossible.