Carnival and other cruise lines have looked to smaller, regional ports outside Florida, New York and the West Coast as booking air travel has become more expensive.
" 'Homeporting' has increased the penetration of the local market as the passenger's ability to drive to the ship versus fly increases the value offering of cruising," UBS leisure travel analyst Robin M. Farley wrote in a recent annual outlook report on the cruise industry.
"We have had tremendous success establishing home port locations from a wide variety of locations in North America," De La Cruz said, mentioning nontraditional Carnival cruise ports in Jacksonville, Fla.; Mobile, Ala.; and New Orleans. "There's a huge population base within a day's drive from Baltimore."
Bringing a new $500 million ship into service in Long Beach, Calif., will free up the Carnival Pride to come to Baltimore, so no existing routes will be slashed, she added.
The expansion comes as the cruise industry is still growing but at a slower rate. Worldwide, 12.8 million people are expected to take cruises this year, compared with an estimated 12.6 million in 2007, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, the industry trade group.
Baltimore has annually had just under 30 cruise departures since 2005. But with Carnival's announcement, the port administration looks forward to 54 departures in 2009, up from the 27 scheduled for this year, White said.
"Our facility as well as the parking available will be challenged if we grow this business any further," White added.
laura.mccandlish@baltsun.com
