Disney Cruise Line, which operates from a year-round home port at Port Canaveral, FL, recently signed an 15-year marine terminal and berth agreement with Broward County. Starting as early as October 2023 but no later than May 1, 2024, Disney will begin to operate an additional year-round, home porting operation in Florida from Port Everglades, which is owned and operated by Broward County.
The premium line will operate multi-day passenger cruises from Port Everglades' Cruise Terminal 4, with Disney and the county sharing $14 million in terminal redesign and marine upgrade costs. The 15-year agreement could also become a 30-year agreement as it has options for up to three extensions of five years each..
Florida Home Ports
From its founding, Disney Cruise Line has home ported at Port Canaveral along central Florida's "Space Coast" and that will continue. For example, the new Disney Wish, Disney Cruise Line's first Triton-class vessel, will begin home porting at Port Canaveral in spring 2022.
But as Disney Cruise Line expands its capacity by building new ships, it's also been seeking an additional "Sunshine State" home port for year-round operations. South Florida is attractive for its robust air lift; Port Everglades is only two miles from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and 29 miles by road from Miami International Airport (MIA).
During the first two years of the agreement, the line will use Port Everglades' Terminal 4, and in 2025, an additional berth and terminal facilities will be available, too.
At this point, there's no indication of what Disney ship or ships might be home ported at Port Everglades, although there is much industry speculation that it could be a new Triton-class vessel, such as one of the sisters to Disney Wish launching in 2024 and 2025.
In the past, Disney has not used Port Everglades for home porting or for regular, seasonal sailings The line currently has one ship sailing seasonally from PortMiami.
Travel Agent has confirmed that the 92-page agreement between the cruise line and Port Everglades has been signed. We've reached out to Disney for additional information and will post it here when received.
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