Miami will soon enough be getting a new cruise terminal that will serve as the homeport to several of Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis-class ships, among the largest in the world.
Miami-Dade County, in partnership with locally based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., broke ground on the new Terminal A at PortMiami on March 8. The LEED-certified terminal will be large enough to accommodate a 1,300-foot-long ship. That means it will be the perfect host for Royal Caribbean’s new Symphony of the Seas, the company’s largest at 1,188 feet. The ship’s arrival will coincide with the terminal opening, scheduled for October 2018. Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas will also join the ship in sailing from the terminal late next year.
“This is an exciting collaboration with Miami-Dade County and PortMiami to create not just another cruise terminal but an iconic state-of-the-art facility,” says Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “Terminal A reinforces our unwavering commitment to our hometown, the city where our company first started nearly 50 years ago.”
Groups will appreciate Terminal A’s technologically advanced attendee experience. The angular glass facility will feature floor-to-ceiling windows, bringing a welcoming, lively atmosphere to the port. It will also increase the port’s Royal Caribbean traffic from about 750,000 passengers to at least 1.8 million travelers, which will make up about 30 percent of the total passenger traffic though PortMiami.
“Our public-private partnership will have an estimated economic impact of $500 million and generate more than 4,000 jobs,” says Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez. “This will make PortMiami Royal Caribbean’s largest cruise port in the U.S., solidifying PortMiami’s status as the ‘Cruise Capital of the World.’”
