North American Cruise Ports Make Improvements
Did you know that cruise ships depart not only from Miami, Los Angeles, and Vancouver, but from Baltimore, Cape Canaveral, Tampa, Mobile, Quebec City, San Francisco and Seattle, among other North American cities? The development of home ports for leisure cruise ships along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts has given cruise lovers more options for points of departure, ships and itineraries than ever before. And, these ports continue to develop and improve, adding new facilities and features.
As of late 2010, San Diego had begun expanding its cruise ship capacity by building a new cruise ship terminal on Broadway Pier, which was near completion at that time. The all-glass façade gives the 52,000-square-foot facility an open, airy feel. The building will be LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified, which means it is designed to use less water and energy and to produce fewer pollutants. This will be the second cruise ship terminal in San Diego, which also has a terminal at the B Street Pier.
Charleston, S.C., recently approved the construction of a new cruise ship terminal that will replace the existing terminal. The number of cruise ships docking in Charleston nearly doubled from 2008 to 2010, and the new terminal will help accommodate the increase in cruise ship traffic. The new terminal is part of a larger plan to redevelop the waterfront in the Charleston’s downtown tourist district.
With more than 47 million potential cruise passengers living in a 500-mile radius, New Orleans has invested more than $400 million in new port facilities during the past 10 years. The Julia Street Cruise Terminal is adjacent to the RiverWalk Shopping Mall, a convenient place for passengers to browse or to pick up anything they forgot to pack. Before or after their cruises, vacationers can also hop on the trolley line to visit the French Quarter, the Aquarium of the Americas or the IMAX Theater.
To explore your options for sailing from these or other North American ports, talk with Cruise Holidays.