Port Everglades is in discussions with Disney Cruise Line as the company looks for a second port in Florida.
“They have the opportunity to establish this as home,” said Port Everglades CEO Jonathan Daniels to the commission. “Their other home is Port Canaveral because of the proximity to Orlando and to the parks. They are looking for a new home in South Florida and we have the opportunity I think to negotiate a very solid deal financially but I think it goes a little bit beyond that.”
Under the proposed deal with Disney, the Fort Lauderdale port would be looking at a year-round ship capable of carrying around 3,500. It was not immediately clear what ship Disney would sail out of the port.
The commission voted unanimously to forego competitive selection requirements the port would normally have to go through for a terminal agreement.
Disney Cruise Line currently has four ships in its fleet, basing two at Port Canaveral and migrating two others among a variety of seasonal ports from Europe and Alaska to New York, Galveston, New Orleans and PortMiami among others. A fifth ship, Disney Wish, is set to debut in June 2022 with two more due by 2025.
Disney has been sailing from PortMiami to some degree since 2012, and the line has a deal in place that would let them sail year-round through 2024, except that would mean sharing a terminal built by another cruise line – MSC Cruises.
“It is their desire to have their own home port operation and not have to share the terminal with another operator,” Daniels said. That’s where an opportunity lies at Port Everglades, which because of an agreement to get back the use of its Cruise Terminal 4 from Carnival Corp. in a pandemic-related deal, allowed the Fort Lauderdale location to be an option for DCL’s potential future.
Cruise Terminal 4 is one of the terminals closest to Fort Lauderdale’s convention center, massive renovated parking garage and a hotel. Port Everglades’ proximity to Fort Lauderdale International Airport is also seen as a bonus by port officials.
“Because of what we’re able to offer Disney Cruise Line as a whole from docking to parking facilities to the fact that hopefully what they’re going to do is bring down their cast and crew members and make them a part of the community as well, and I think that goes beyond just what it means to the port,” Daniels said. “Ultimately it spills out to what it means for the county and the community.”
Daniels said initial talks have centered on a year-round vessel to start with the possibility of a second seasonal ship. With one ship carrying about 3,500 passengers per sailing, running four- and five-night itineraries, the port would see about 536,000 passenger movements annually.
The ship would have to be one of the four existing vessels, as Port Everglades is not set up to handle ships that run on liquefied natural gas as Port Canaveral has done. Disney Magic debuted in 1998 followed by Disney Wonder in 1999. Disney Dream came in 2011 followed by Disney Fantasy in 2012.
Disney recently signed a 20-year agreement with Port Canaveral that continues its exclusive use of Cruise Terminal 8, which has just been renovated. The line plans to base at least two of the three new ships at the port when they debut, while also continuing at least a two-ship year-round presence and bringing in a third in at least seasonally as part of the deal by 2024.
