Port Tampa Bay Hits Major Passenger Milestone

For the first time ever, Port Tampa Bay has seen over 1 million cruise ship passengers in one year. They announced the news on Twitter this past weekend.

On September 17, the port tipped over the 1 million mark with 1,000,524 passengers. Business Research & Economic Advisors estimated that a 3,000 guest ship generates an average of $403,000 in passenger and crew onshore spending per call in a homeport city. Port Tampa Bay’s major cruise lines include Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Norwegian Cruise Line.

“This is fantastic moment for Port Tampa Bay and our cruise line partners,” said Port Tampa Bay President and CEO Paul Anderson in a press release. “This milestone shows that Tampa is truly a world-class destination for cruise passengers.”

Tampa is one of the country’s largest cruise ports. Last year, the port saw an 18 percent increase of cruise passengers, with 961,000 passengers. That was just shy of the (at the time) record of 974,000 travelers that moved through the port in 2012.

Carnival Cruise Line recently added 20 more cruises to Cuba, completed a makeover of Carnival Paradise, and doubled their capacity in Tampa with the addition of Carnival Miracle‘s only year-long program with seven-day cruises from the port. Royal Caribbean also put Majesty of the Seas in rotation there, with cruises to Cuba to accommodate a strong customer demand from Florida’s gulf coast.