Almost four months have passed since the last cruise left PortMiami with passengers who paid on a cruise to the Bahamas / Caribbean due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PortMiami is the world cruise capital and sees more cruise passengers passing through the port than any other cruise port in the world. The port saw 6.8 million cruise passengers in 2019 and was expected to see even more this year before all cruises were closed.
PortMiami is currently in the midst of a massive construction boom with several new cruise terminals and cruise line headquarters under construction. The Miami Herald published an article earlier today and gave updates on the construction project by interviewing PortMiami port director Juan Kuryla.
Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Virgin Voyages and MSC Cruises are in the midst of construction projects at the port.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s new Terminal B will finally be completed this month. The new terminal was originally scheduled to open last November, but the opening date was delayed until May. The terminal will now be completed sometime in July.
Virgin Voyages’ new Terminal V will remain on its current schedule and will open in November 2021. Until now, no schedule has been given for the opening of Terminal V. The completion of the cruise terminals will occur before the second Virgin cruise ship visit the port.
I just looked at the PortMiami webcam and you can see some construction finally underway where the terminal will be located.
Work on Royal Caribbean’s new headquarters stopped in May. All workers and cranes have been removed from the site.
MSC Cruises is building Terminal AA, Terminal AAA and its new headquarters in PortMiami.
Kuryla said in her interview with the Miami Herald that the deadlines for these projects are being renegotiated.
Carnival Cruise Line is also planning a massive renovation of its Miami cruise terminals.
It’s safe to say that all projects that have not yet started or are in the early stages of construction will be suspended until the cruise industry can resume cruises.
22 cruise lines and 55 different cruises sail from PortMiami each year.
