Four cruise ships, including JAXPORT’s regular home-ported ship Carnival Ecstasy already in port, will dock at JAXPORT and remain at the port during the cruise industry’s voluntary suspension of U.S. cruise operations due to COVID-19 (coronavirus). The additional three vessels not regularly home-ported at JAXPORT will arrive in Jacksonville with only crew members on board and then lay idle due to berth capacity constraints at PortMiami, where all three vessels are regularly home-ported.
The crew will remain on the vessels while the ships are in Jacksonville, unless an exception is deemed necessary by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Carnival Ecstasy arrived at JAXPORT as scheduled today. Following passenger debarkation, the vessel and its crew will remain docked at the ship’s regular location at the JAXPORT Cruise Terminal.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sky is scheduled to arrive at JAXPORT’s Talleyrand Marine Terminal tomorrow, and the company’s Norwegian Pearl is scheduled to dock at the port’s Dames Point Marine Terminal next week. An additional vessel, Norwegian Gem, will dock at JAXPORT’s Blount Island Marine Terminal. The arrival date for that vessel is still being determined.
The vessels and their crew must be cleared by the U.S. Coast Guard and CBP upon their arrivals in Jacksonville, which is standard procedure.
“We are committed to doing our part to support our fellow Florida ports and our partners in the cruise industry during this time,” said JAXPORT CEO Eric Green. “We will continue to work closely with our federal, state, and local agencies to monitor the situation and adjust operations as needed.”
Idling at a port rather than at sea increases fuel efficiencies and provides easy access to necessary provisions for crew members and the ships.
Source: Jaxport
For news on cruise ships affected by Coronavirus and Norovirus outbreaks statistics see at CruiseMapper.