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New Orleans port cited for comeback
New Orleans was named “Best Comeback Port” by Porthole Cruise Magazine.
The award from the Fort Lauderdale-based publication goes to those in the cruise and travel industry who have gone “above and beyond in terms of service, quality and excellence,” according to publisher Bill Panoff.
“Porthole Cruise Magazine is reinforcing what thousands of cruise passengers to New Orleans have learned — that the New Orleans visitor experience is alive and well,” said Kim Priez, vice president of tourism sales for the area’s CVB.
New Orleans has successfully hosted large sporting events, meetings and conventions and a successful 2007 Mardi Gras, which drew an estimated 800,000 people, she added.
The Port of New Orleans has been one of America’s fastest growing cruise ports.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, passenger embarkations and disembarkations topped 750,000. The port was poised to break the 1 million-passenger with four-home-ported cruise ships and numerous port calls utilizing its facilities.
The cruise industry rebound is underway at the port, with passenger embarkations and disembarkations projected to top 475,000 this year, according to CVB officials.
Late last year, the port opened its $37 million Erato Street Cruise Terminal and Parking Garage, a state-of-the-industry facility featuring a 90,000 square-foot-terminal and 1,000-vehicle parking garage. It has also welcomed back three of its four home-ported cruise ships.
Also late last year, the port logged its busiest cruise month in its history, hosting 23 cruise ship calls by seven cruise ships and bringing approximately 95,000 passengers through the Crescent City.
Currently, Carnival Cruise Line’s Fantasy sails four- and five-day Western Caribbean itineraries from New Orleans, and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sun and Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas sail seven-day cruises to Western Caribbean destinations.
The port is positioning itself for future growth with the addition of a new cruise terminal at its Poland Avenue facility. The project is currently in the design and engineering phase. When completed, the port will have the ability to host three of the industry’s largest cruise ships simultaneously.
Report by David Wilkening
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