Disney Speculated to call Port of Miami Home

Miami’s cruise industry is a big business. Even Genting Group realizes, due to their stake in a cruise ship company, that there is much more that can be “wrung from the vine” by extending the vacationer to a few days at a casino resort with entertainment, dining and other features – smack in the middle of downtown Miami.

According to the Miami Herald report, the Port of Miami may soon be ‘sprouting mouse ears.’ Disney Cruise Lines has announced a press conference this coming Wednesday to talk about fleet expansion and new itineraries.

Neither Disney nor Port Miami, as it is now called, would confirm a move Friday, but a spokeswoman for Port Everglades said she wasn’t aware of the press conference — virtually guaranteeing that the ship will sail from Miami.

Speculated reasons for moving to Miami include the 90,000 annual international visitors to the Magic City – who can experience even more of the Americas and other areas of the world with a cruise from the Port of Miami.

With the proposed Genting development in downtown combined with the potential expansion of the Port for not only additional cruise lines, but the ‘Panamax’ freight ships which may also lead to the ‘Super Cruise Ships,’ like those who depart from the Port of the Everglades, being able to dock in Miami as well.

“Several ports, including the ports of New York, Norfolk, and Baltimore, all in the northeastern US, have already increased their depth to at least 50 feet (15 m) to accommodate these changes, and the Port of Miami has recently approved doing the same in a project known as the “Deep Dredge” and will be the closest deep water port to the Panama Canal in the US. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is planning to raise the clearance of the Bayonne Bridge to 215 feet (66 m), at a cost of $1 billion, to allow New Panamax ships to reach container port facilities in New Jersey.”¹

The ongoing positive steps being made to create an even larger tourist, travel and entertainment district throughout the Port of Miami, Downtown Miami, Brickell, Midtown and Wynwood are really a sign of potential economic recovery for this area.

The ongoing Port of Miami Tunnel project continues to drill it’s way towards the Port of Miami from Watson Island.

Photo Credit: DCLNEWS.COM
Source: Miami Herald
¹Wikipedia: Panamax (Used under CC license)