Norwegian Cruise Line welcomed to Port of Baltimore

BALTIMORE -- A new cruise line is making Baltimore a homeport.

Norwegian Cruise Lines launched a brand new cruise Friday, with plans to start another one in November.

Norwegian Sky is the first NCL ship to sail from Baltimore in decades and it's something the Port of Baltimore wants to showcase more.

"It's one of the best advertisements we have out there, these cruise ships," said Brian Miller, interim acting executive director at the Maryland Port Administration. "It really opens peoples' eyes to the Port of Baltimore and how important the Port of Baltimore is to the state of Maryland in general."

Norwegian Sky debuts a new trip from Baltimore to New England and Quebec, Canada. Then, in a few months, Norwegian Sun will start a new trip to the Caribbean.

Louis Ruiz, senior director of port operations at NCL, said they picked Baltimore as a new homeport to open up more trips on the east coast.

"Cruising is accessible more today than it's ever been to people around the globe. The people of Baltimore will soon see what kind of product that we're bringing to them," Ruiz said.

This all comes at a time when the cruise industry is booming. AAA data shows domestic bookings for Labor Day weekend are up 19% compared to 2022.

Also, ahead of the season, the Cruise Line International Association predicted more than 31 million people would cruise this year—that's above 2019 numbers.

Baltimore is cashing in on all of it. At a news conference about Norwegian Sky, Miller said cruises generate nearly 400 jobs at the Port of Baltimore.

The industry also brings in $63 million in revenue and generates $3 million annually in state and local taxes.

Marylanders make up the majority of the passengers, but a lot of out-of-state passengers are helping, too.

"We have people that come from New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware," Cynthia Burman, deputy director of business development at Maryland Port Administration's cruise department. "They're coming from all the surrounding states to come here to Baltimore."

Norwegian Cruise Line is now the third cruise line to offer cruises from Baltimore, joining Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International.