The Canaveral Port Authority Board of Commissioners took the final step and voted unanimously to approve the long-term agreement with Carnival Cruise Line, thus paving the way for the cruise company to homeport its newest and biggest ship at Port Canaveral FL.
The new operating agreement, beginning September 1, replaces an existing 6-year agreement set to expire in 2019, and provides a 25-year primary term with 4 additional 5-year renewal options. Under the terms of this agreement, the minimum annual guarantee of Carnival increases from the current fixed US$7 million passenger fee to US$14.5 million with annual escalators.
Canaveral Port Authority (CPA) and Carnival Cruise Line are now due to invest in building and equipping a brand new 2-story 185,000 ft2 terminal to accommodate the still unnamed 180,000 GT Carnival ship, engineered with Carnival Corp.'s LNG “green cruising” design platform. The newbuild will feature 5,286 lower berths with a maximum capacity of approx 6,500 passengers.
Building the new CT-3 terminal, along with an adjacent elevated parking facility able to accommodate around 1,800 vehicles, and related access, wharf and road improvements will total US$150 million, which is estimated to be the biggest single project in port's history. The new cruise terminal is scheduled for completion by June 2020.
The new Carnival ship's arrival in 2020 will mark 30 years that Carnival has been sailing from Port Canaveral, which is the longest of any of port’s cruise partners.