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Futuristic terminals—coming soon to the Big 3 cruise ports

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The world's three leading cruise ports—PortMiami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades—are building dazzling terminals for a leap into the future.

Busy ports are running out of warehouses, which traditionally have been repurposed to handle cruise calls, but the big game-changer is ship size.

With 5,000- and 6,000-passenger ships, 'Terminals are exploding inside,' according to Luis Ajamil, president and CEO of the architecture/engineering firm Bermello Ajamil & Partners, the master planner for Miami, Canaveral and Everglades.

Whopping 170,000 to 200,000 square feet

It's becoming a must to build, and to build big.

PortMiami's original cruise terminals were 5,000 square feet. The new ones coming on line are 170,000 square feet to 200,000 square feet to serve far into the future.

'When you look at these terminals at their peak handling capacity, they're processing more people through customs and immigration than big airports,' Ajamil said—'the equivalent of 20 to 30 wide-body 747s or A380s in a two-hour period.'

He put the cost of Florida's next-generation terminals at $150m to $250m, counting the terminal, berth and parking.

Iconic designs

Meanwhile, to handle bigger volumes, new cruise terminals are going to be futuristic marvels. Far from the simply functional boxes of the past, they're soaring, dramatic, iconic—providing wows, like the ships they serve. More important, they're incorporating cutting-edge technology to ensure security, efficiency and a seamless ship-to-shore experience.

Seatrade Cruise Review's June cover story

Seatrade Cruise Review's latest issue, just out, examines four futuristic cruise terminals going up in the Big 3 ports. They include PortMiami's Terminal A for Royal Caribbean and Terminal B for Norwegian Cruise Line, Port Everglades' Terminal 25 for Celebrity Cruises and Port Canaveral's Terminal 3, whose tenant hasn't been announced but possibly could be Carnival Cruise Line.

Other features in the issue include a profile of Richard Fain, 30 years a CEO; a preview of the new book by Joe Farcus, cruising's most prolific architect; an update on US West Coast ports, an Asia report and a ship management survey.

Sample pages can be downloaded here.