South Florida cruise industry "cruising" along post pandemic
MIAMI - During the height of the pandemic and months afterward, the cruise industry took a major hit.
Most cruise lines lost billions of dollars after ships were docked for months and travel halted.
"You went from an industry that was thriving to one that shut down completely," said Port Everglades Director Jonathan Daniels.
Daniels said the pandemic was devastating for the port for a very, very long time.
Flash forward to 2022 which has been a pivotal year for cruising to get back on track as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has loosened restrictions.
Most of the major cruise lines are seeing a surge in travel.
"We're seeing volume build month to month, every month. There is no reason not to believe that we're going to hit our all-time highs in the near future," said John Padgett, President of Princess Cruises.
Daniels agrees. He said with the rollout of new ships, the future is promising.
"New vessels coming to the market, new opportunities, and I think that it's been exciting. We moved from recovery into a growth mode for the industry and the port very quickly," he said.
The Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., said they have unveiled five new cruise ships this year, four of which are docked in South Florida.
"We have seen tremendous excitement from our consumer base. We've all kind of been cooped up for the past couple of years and folks really want to get out there and explore again," said Laura Hodges, Executive Vice President of the Royal Caribbean Group.
According to Cruise Industry News' cruise ship order book, nearly 40 new ships are lined up to debut this year alone with more than 75 vessels on order through 2027.
Port Miami said, on average, the occupancy for their cruise ships as of July stood at 91 percent. In January it was at 31 percent.
Port Everglades said from the beginning of the year through July they have had more than 1.5 million passengers come through the port.