New Orleans – The answer to a big question – the future of New Orleans’ cruise-ship industry – will begin to unfold Sunday when the first regularly scheduled liner to sail since Hurricane Katrina leaves the city’s docks.
Before Katrina, four cruise ships were homeported in New Orleans. The industry was rapidly expanding, with more than 700,000 passengers leaving and arriving in 2004 through the Port of New Orleans.
But Katrina, which struck in August 2005, shut down the usually strong fall season.
Only 308,000 passengers sailed from New Orleans during the first eight months of the year, according to the International Council of Cruise Lines, an industry group. The truncated year supported nearly 5,000 jobs in Louisiana as the industry spent $241 million, a figure that was still higher than the $208 million spent for all of 2004, according to the ICCL.
Now, nearly 14 months since the last regular voyage – the Carnival Sensation just before Katrina hit – the business is starting over.
On Sunday, the Norwegian Sun, an 853-foot Norwegian Cruise Lines vessel that can handle 2,000 passengers, leaves for the Caribbean.
Three other cruise ships are expected to return this year and in 2007.
There have been several one- time liner stops at New Orleans since Katrina, but Sunday’s voyage marks the return of regularly scheduled service of four- to seven-day voyages.
The port is opening a third cruise terminal and a 1,000-vehicle garage at a cost of $38 million that will give the facility the ability to handle two large passenger ships at once.
But Bob Wall, owner of the New Orleans-based travel agency Vacations at Sea, said the first year probably would only be modest as the ships get re-established.
“Once they (the public) see the ships docked, I think that’s going to provide a nice bump of sales,” he said.
Next in line at the Port of New Orleans is Carnival Cruise Lines’ Fantasy, which sails Oct. 26, followed by Royal Caribbean International’s Grandeur of the Seas on Dec. 7.
Carnival is expected to begin sailing its Carnival Triumph next September.
