Cruise Port Business Redefined
New Orleans builds enviable cruise traffic on top of a carefully crafted business plan. It may surprise you to learn that, on the lower Mississippi River, cruise traffic now accounts for over one fifth of all revenue at the Port of New Orleans, a major cargo hub. With recently modernized terminals, able to handle big ships, the Crescent City last year accommodated over a million cruise passengers, setting its fourth straight record. How they did it is perhaps more impressive than what they have created…
New Orleans’ 2014 Cruise Passenger Total Tops Record
Port of New Orleans cruise terminals handled more than 1 million cruise passengers in 2014 for the first time in its history. For the 12 months, embarkations and disembarkations totaled 1,014,325, an increase of more than 2.6 percent over 2013, a fourth straight record year for the port. Cruise Lines International Association ranked the port the sixth-largest cruise port in the United States with direct industry expenditures in Louisiana totaling $406 million, supporting 8,129 jobs and accounting for $323 million in total income.
Allee to Lead Cruise and Tourism at Port of New Orleans
Port industry veteran Don Allee will assume control of the Port’s Cruise and Tourism Division in January, following the retirement of current Director J. Robert Jumonville. Jumonville, who will retire in January after 25 years at the Port, oversaw the planning and construction of all three Julia St. Cruise Terminals, including the present consolidation of the two terminals into one modern terminal completed in 2011. Jumonville was also instrumental in the design and construction of the Erato Street Cruise Terminal and Parking Garage Complex…
Port Realizes Cruise Passenger Gains in 2013
For the third consecutive year, record numbers of cruise passengers set sail from the Port of New Orleans. Port cruise terminals handled 987,860 embarkations and disembarkations in 2013, up more than 1 percent compared to 2012, which saw a 32 percent gain over 2011. “The positive trend for cruising from New Orleans continues,” said Gary LaGrange, Port President and CEO. Last year, the Port of New Orleans commissioned a study to determine passenger and crew spending in the New Orleans region.
Cruise Industry Spending Up 42% In 2012
Total Cruise Industry Spending Topped $399 Million in Louisiana, Employment Up 37 Percent. A 32 percent increase in cruise passengers at the Port of New Orleans in 2012 resulted in huge gains in employment and cruise spending in Louisiana, according to a report released this week by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). Port of New Orleans cruise terminals handled a record 977,703 passengers in 2012, up 32 percent compared to 2011’s former record of 736,908. CLIA’s report…
Cruise Ship Returns to Erie Canal
Grande Mariner was Stranded on Canal System During 2011 Flooding. The M/V Grande Mariner, a 96-passenger cruise ship that was stranded for more than two months because of flooding in 2011, today returned to the Erie Canal for a new season of cruising America's most storied waterway. The ship, and a sister-ship, M/V Niagara Princes, both owned by Blount Small Ship Adventures in Warren, R.I., was among a handful of ships stranded on the New York State Canal system because of destructive high waters in August and September brought on by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
