Royal Caribbean will move Explorer of the Seas out of Bayonne, New Jersey and right into Port Canaveral, Florida in November 2014.

Explorer of the Seas will offer a range of four- to nine-night Bahamas, and Western and Southern Caribbean vacations.  Explorer will join Freedom of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas, which are based in Port Canaveral year-round.  Explorer of the Seas’ 2014 holiday season cruises from Port Canaveral are now open for sale.

Explorer of the Seas will sail four Western Caribbean cruises roundtrip from Port Canaveral through Jan. 4, 2015. On these five-night itineraries, guests call at Cozumel, Mexico, and Nassau, The Bahamas, or CocoCay and Cozumel. Vacationers also can choose two Southern Caribbean sailings on a nine-night itinerary that call at each of the ABC Islands and Labadee.

Additionally, a five-night Bahamas cruise, departing Dec. 13, 2014, will call at Nassau, Grand Bahamas Island and CocoCay. Guests on a special four-night sailing, departing Dec. 23, will call at Labadee on Christmas Day. The following eight-night Caribbean itinerary will herald in the New Year in St. Maarten, as well as call at San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Croix and Labadee. Vacationers also can choose an extended 14-night Southern Caribbean itinerary, departing Nov. 1, 2014, which repositions Explorer of the Seas from Cape Liberty to Port Canaveral via the Southern Caribbean.

Explorer of the Seas, a Voyager class ship, had spent 8 consecutive years in the New York metro area.

Port Canaveral, Florida has Enchantment of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas calling it him and it announced that it is expecting a third Royal Caribbean ship to be based out of the port for the winter of 2014-15.

Port Interim CEO John Walsh indicated that Royal Caribbean will make an official announcement regarding adding a third ship to the port in about two weeks.

Port Canaveral, Florida is ready to welcome a new Royal Caribbean ship that will call the Atlantic hub home.  Enchantment of the seas will begin offering year-round three- and four-night Bahamas cruises starting this week.

Enchantment of the Seas is replacing Monarch of the Seas, which Royal Caribbean recently transferred to sister cruise line Pullmantur, which occurred earlier this month.

The 2,252 passenger ship first debuted in 1997 and was recently refurbished as part of Royal Caribbean's Royal Advantage program. Its signature features include a pool deck with interactive splash pad with dual suspension bridge on either side of the ship. It also features the popular rock wall and a bungee trampoline attraction.

The December 2012 refurbishment added Royal Babies & Tots Nursery, '60s-era R Bar and new dining option, the Park Café gourmet deli.

Other enhancements include Wi-Fi service throughout the ship, flat panel TVs in each stateroom, interactive digital signage and an outdoor, poolside movie screen that proved popular on the Oasis-class ships. Also new to the ship are the Concierge Club lounge for suite guests and Diamond Club for the line's loyalty program members.

Enchantment of the Seas first cruise out of Port Canaveral will be a four-night Bahamas cruise on April 25th.  It then will begin its normal Monday-Friday, four-night and Friday-Monday, three-night itineraries year-round. The three-night itinerary also makes stops at Coco Cay and Nassau.

Royal Caribbean has another ship year-round that calls Port Canaveral home, which is Freedom of the Seas.  Enchantment of the Seas is the first new Royal Caribbean ship at the port in four years.

Port Canaveral, Florida received approval from a federal panel to widen and deepen the channel.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Review Board gave unanimous approval of the port's feasibility study and that the project may continue to seek approval from other state and federal agencies.

The project need the approval of the Corps of Engineers to receive federal assistance for future maintenance of the channel.

The proposed project would widen Port Canaveral's 400-foot-wide channel by 100 feet and deepen it by 2 feet along its 3.5-mile length.  Work is expected to begin in July and be completed by the fall of 2014.  The widening and deepening of the channel would allow Port Canaveral to accommodate larger cruise and cargo ships.

Tom Weinberg, Canaveral Port Authority Chairman, said the decision by the review board, “is a huge deal. This is a significant milestone to have this level of approval so quickly.”

Port Canaveral estimates that, if its cargo and cruise business increases as projected, this project and related developments at the port could generate nearly 3,500 permanent jobs for Brevard County. It also will mean an estimated 3,413 temporary construction jobs.

Royal Caribbean announced it is planning on home porting Enchantment of the Seas in Port Canaveral in 2013 to do 3 and 4 night cruises to the Bahamas.

Enchantment of the Seas will begin sailing from Port Canaveral on April 25, with three- and four-night itineraries to the Bahamas.  Enchantment replaces Monarch of the Seas, which is being transferred out of the fleet.  Monarch’s last sailing from Port Canaveral is scheduled for March 29.

Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Stan Payne commented on the news, "I’m really very excited about this, and you should be, too."

Enchantment will join Freedom of the Seas in Port Canaveral and is scheduled to be upgraded in December, with added onboard amenities and other renovations.

Photo by Scott Ladewig

Royal Caribbean and Port Canaveral reached an agreement that will keep Freedom of the Seas sailing out of Brevard County, Florida through 2015.

The deal was approved by the Canaveral Port Authority board unanimously.  The deal's specifics say Royal Caribbean will keep Freedom of the Seas, or another ship that size or larger, in the port through the end of 2015.

Freedom of the Seas was once the largest cruise ship in the world and remains in the top five, sailing out of Port Canaveral, Florida with 7-night sailings throughout the year to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.  

J. Stanley Payne, Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer, is happy the deal got done, "It has been a big day for us.  I think that's a vote of confidence for the port."

Port Canaveral, Florida is celebrating the start of construction of a new cruise terminal with a scheduled completion date of July 2012.  The new terminal should be large enough to handle any cruise ship in the world, including Royal Caribbean's behemoth Genesis class ships such as Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

Port Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer J. Stanley Payne says the new Terminal 6 dock will be large enough to accommodate "the absolute largest cruise ships in the world," including Royal Caribbean's 6,200-passenger, Genesis-class ships.

Currently Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas is home ported in Port Canaveral, which was the largest passenger ship ever built (by gross tonnage) from 2006 until construction of Oasis of the Seas, so large ships are something Port Canaveral can handle.

Cruise passenger traffic is up for Royal Caribbean at Port Canaveral, Florida.  The amount of passengers for Royal Caribbean's ships based out of Port Canaveral is up 1 percent for the year at nearly 360,000.

This figure is slightly skewed when you consider the fact that Royal Caribbean ships have made nine more voyages out of the port so far this year.  Royal Caribbean has matched competitor Carnival Cruise Lines in replacing smaller ships with larger ones at Port Canaveral during the past two years.

Royal Caribbean currently home ports Freedom of the Seas and Monarch of the Seas out of Port Canaveral for year round trips. 

Port officials also report total cruise revenue is up year to date about 19 percent.