2004 Year in Review: Port of N.O. triples its capacity for growing cruise ship industry

The Port of New Orleans plans to triple the size of its current cruise operations.

The cruise industry in New Orleans is a proven economic development engine, said Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. We are committed to making the investments to grow cruise capacity because new terminals translate

Since 1993, when cruise ships began sailing from New Orleans, passenger growth is up almost 800 percent.

In 1993, more than 80,000 passengers cruised out of New Orleans resulting in $11 million in direct spending. A decade later, 695,000 passengers boarded cruises in New Orleans, and spent $97 million.

New Orleans is the fastest-growing cruise port in the world, according to the Miami-based International Council of Cruise Lines.

Each week, about 3,600 passengers dock at the Port of New Orleans. Each passenger spends an average of $2,800, said Gary LaGrange, Port president and chief executive officer.

Cruise passengers generate about $19 million in hotel revenue.

They're flexing plastic and spending cash and we're loving every minute of it, LaGrange said.

The growth of the cruise industry in New Orleans is phenomenal, said Mayor C. Ray Nagin.

By 2006, the Port expects to complete renovations of its Julia Street Cruise Terminal, as well as the $35 million Erato Street Cruise Terminal and the $7.5 million interim cruise terminal at Poland Avenue, said Robert Jumonville, director of cruise and tourism operations.

We're at capacity with the room we have to berth cruise ships, he said.

Four cruise ships are now home ported in the Port of New Orleans.

The Carnival Conquest, which belongs to the largest class of Carnival's cruise ships, holds about 3,000 passengers. In October, Carnival replaced the 1,500 passenger Holiday with the 2,050 passenger Sensation. The Norwegian Cruise Line's Dream holds 1,800 passengers and the Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Sea holds about 2,500 passengers.

In October 2005, Norwegian Cruise Lines plans to replace the Dream with the Sun. The Sun can carry 2,400 passengers, 33 percent more than the Dream.

The cruise industry will cater to what their passengers want and they're saying they want to come to New Orleans, said Deborah Keller, director of Port development.

Each weekly ship docking amounts to about a $3 million impact when fuel, catering, crew purchases and loading and unloading services are added up, LaGrange said. As we build more terminals and more ships come in, I think the number will double from $3 million to $6 million, he said.

Cruise lines consider whether cruise line passengers want to go to brand-name destination, said Brian Major, spokesman for the New York-based Cruise Lines International Association. New Orleans certainly is that.