BEA to design new Port Canaveral cruise terminal where shore power is planned

Bruno Elias-Ramos, founder and principal of BEA, 'nailed it' with some forward-thinking and money-saving solutions, according to Port Canaveral CEO Capt. John Murray.

BEA — which has designed five of the port's six cruise terminals — was selected by a committee of six. Other contenders were Bermello Ajamil & Partners of Miami (which designed Carnival Cruise Line's CT 3), Arquitectonica of Miami and Haskell Co. of Jacksonville.

At a special meeting July 16, Canaveral Port Authority commissioners gave the go-ahead for port staff to enter into contract negotiations with BEA. Once those are complete, staff will present the costs for approval at the Aug. 21 board meeting.

Fast-tracked multi-user facility

Terminal 7, a multi-user facility, was fast-tracked to accommodate the needs of cruise line partners. It will go up at the existing North 8 Berth, which shares the basin with CT 5 on the port's north side. 

'We're doing everything to advance the project as quickly as possible,' Murray told Seatrade Cruise News. The aim is to have CT 7 operational by late 2025 to handle Norwegian Joy, and the plan is to eventually relocate MSC Cruises there. 

To be ready by late 2025, the port had anticipated needing to put up temporary Customs and Border Protection facilities. But Murray said BEA's Elias-Ramos offered cost-saving ideas — instead of building a temporary CBP structure — estimated at $6m to $15m — only to tear it down, BEA would incorporate the temporary facility into the permanent building.

Murray also noted the port's operations team favors the people flows in BEA-designed CT 1 (the Royal Caribbean terminal) so that 'might be a great starting point for the new terminal.'

Calling the special meeting last week bought an extra month of time for the port to hammer out the BEA contract before the Aug. 21 regular meeting. And, if all goes as hoped, ground-breaking could take place as soon as January.

Shore power

Port Canaveral hopes to provide shore power at CT 7 upon opening as part of a large-scale capital project, provided issues can be worked out with Florida Power & Light.

Murray identified the challenges as adequate power on the grid — a ship like Utopia of the Seas requires about the same energy as the city of Cape Canaveral — and the cost.

There may be enough power on the port's north side to supply CT 7 by upgrading an existing substation. Otherwise, FPL would need to build new substations on port property.

'It becomes a complex equation for us,' Murray said. 'We're not opposed to it but we want to be smart about how we do it.'

Since Canaveral's terminals are spread across different areas, channels for the power lines would need to go through existing infrastructure, making the electrification more complex than at PortMiami, where the cruise terminals are all in a row.

With the new Utopia of the Seas, Port Canaveral is now home to three LNG-powered cruise ships, a number that will go to five by 2025

LNG ships

With the new Utopia of the Seas, the port is now home to three LNG-powered cruise ships, along with Mardi Gras and Disney Wish. That will go to four— a quarter of the cruise fleet — this winter when Disney Treasure arrives, and five with the addition of the Icon-class Star of the Seas in 2025.

Currently there's a patchwork of LNG providers and barges, which came about at the cruise lines' desire for priority bunkering. Mardi Gras uses Shell LNG from Savannah delivered via the chartered Q-LNG barge and Disney Wish uses JAX LNG from Jacksonville supplied by the Clean Canaveral barge. Royal Caribbean eventually aims to use Eagle LNG from Jacksonville transported by a money-saving, non-US-flag barge to Perfect Day at CocoCay, however so far Utopia has bunkered at Canaveral using JAX LNG.

This Monday, Canaveral was expected to host the first simultaneous LNG bunkering of two cruise ships.

Utopia of the Seas

Following several pre-inaugural events including naming festivities, Utopia of the Seas sailed on its inaugural revenue cruise Friday, with nearly 800 people lining the shore at a port-organized send-off.

Hundreds of well-wishers lined the shore to wave off Utopia of the Seas at a Port Canaveral-hosted send-off party

Port Canaveral hosted 'The World's Biggest Wave Out' party with a DJ, bubble machine, giveaways, ice cream and hot dogs. Utopia was escorted by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Marine Unit, the port's new fireboat with a water cannon display and two tugboats.

'We're excited Royal Caribbean's put trust in us,' Murray said, first to test three-/four-day cruises on the Oasis-class Allure of the Seas and, now, with Utopia the first of the class to enter service on short break sailings.

Expanded parking

Murray noted Allure had ramped up to full capacity over six weeks and drew a massive drive market. Every Friday the port handled more than 1,300 cars, just for that ship, and parking was expanded for Utopia with about 1,000 additional spaces at CT 1.

More parking may be needed in future, with Celebrity Cruises also sailing from Canaveral for the firsr time this winter. Utopia, Oasis-class sister Wonder of the Seas and Celebrity Equinox will all operate from CT 1.

A 2,000-car garage is being added at CT 6 (which had 825 spaces) and another 1,000 spaces at CT 10 (for a total of 2,300), both additions to be completed by October for peak season.

A bigger ship, Carnival Vista, is now operating on the north side, along with two Royal Caribbean ships at CT 5 for the winter, and Disney Wish moving to CT 10, joining Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises, when Disney Treasure arrives. Also, Princess Cruises will be sailing from CT 6 in its Port Canaveral debut.

With Terminals 5 and 6 in close proximity, passengers can use the same garage, with overflow from 5 and 6 going to the old CT 6 garage if needed.

New parking payment system

Murray said Canaveral now has great metrics for building out its parking, and can anticipate the requirements for any type of itinerary rotation, with many more passengers driving in for the short cruises. Also, the port introduced a pay on arrival system, which expedites the disembarkation process, and accommodates those who stay for back-to-back cruises by automatically billing them for the second trip as they exit.

Wonder of the Seas, a seven-day ship whose itineraries alternate to the eastern and western Caribbean, typically has 40 to 50 passengers stay on for back-to-back cruises. For Utopia, the number is surprisingly higher — nearly 200 — even though the ports on the three- and four-day cruises are the same.