Disney cruise line – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Dan Komarcha
Disney Cruise Line didn’t simply paint Cruise Terminal 4, which was abandoned, to become its second year-round residence at Port Everglades.
According to Sharon Siskie, senior vice president and general manager for the line, it received a makeover that included new floors and a ceiling covered in over 600 bubble carvings to give it an “under the sea” vibe. The opening ceremony took place on Monday.
“When we stand here today, and we look at the space and we think back to when we initially did our walkthrough, and we leverage the imagination of the teams to envision what it would be able to become, we had that discussion of how do you really elevate the brand presence and really make this a Disney experience,” she said.
The airport is completely decked out with figures from “Finding Nemo,” while cartoonish paintings, such as a black-and-white tribute to Steamboat Willie on the walk-in from the parking garage, are among the Disney touches.
Unlike the line’s terminal in Port Canaveral, the 104,000-square-foot terminal is spacious, but thanks to Disney’s experience with line management, it should allow for a seamless aboard experience when Disney Dream comes for its inaugural voyage on November 20.
Officials from the cruise line, the port, and the Broward County government were there to dedicate the facility one week prior to its arrival. The site had not been used much since the port reacquired it from Carnival Corp. in a pandemic-related transaction.
“This is a complete reimagineering and rebranding,” said Port Everglades CEO and port director Jonathan Daniels. “It’s a different agreement than any agreement that we’ve had with any of the any of the lines in the past. … Because of all the intellectual property that they have in here — the branding that has occurred — this is Disney’s terminal.”
The line had only occasionally sailed from Port Miami since 2012. However, with the launch of Disney Dream’s four- and five-night sailings, which will be replaced by Disney Magic’s three-, four-, and five-night sailings in May, the line has made a 15-year commitment to Port Everglades, which ensures 10.6 million passengers over the lease’s term.
This implies that one ship will sail continuously through 2024, while the other will cruise seasonally starting in 2025. If Disney and the port agree, they can also extend the lease for an additional 15 years in five-year increments, which would bring in an additional 11.25 million passengers.
Additionally, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point on the southern tip of Eleuthera, the line’s new private Bahamas destination, will be regularly visited by this port beginning in the summer. Ships headquartered in Port Canaveral won’t make frequent trips there until the fall of 2019.
Thanks to a $120 million investment made prior to the pandemic, the terminal’s parking garage pairs with the Princess Cruises-operated Cruise Terminal 2, providing a total of more than 1,800 spaces. The terminal is located next to the Broward County Convention Center and near the lodging and dining options to the north of the port.
This includes the provision of automated pathways and full coverage from garage to ship to protect passengers from Florida’s extreme heat and bad weather.
In addition to drawing visitors from the nearby Fort Lauderdale International Airport and, to a lesser extent, the airports in Miami and West Palm, the port also boasts its own drive-in market. It also means that some cruisers are arriving from surrounding hotels, so Daniels said it’s yet unclear how this would affect parking.
“The one thing we’re not going to do is we’re not going to go out there and build a massive 1,500-car, 2,000-car parking garage without seeing what this year looks like,” he said. “If we need another one, it’s because we’re in a great position. We’ll know some of the pain and pressure points this year.”
According to Siskie, Disney sees an opportunity in the market, which includes both families and actual adults yearning for a Disney experience.
“We’re bringing the product closer to home right on the back door of guests here who, you know may not get all the way to Orlando as often as they might like,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for them to have a little Disney fix.”
Additionally, the line has its own distinct spillover benefits from the port’s backyard, which includes Fort Lauderdale and the larger Broward County area.
“We did like the location,” she said. “Port Everglades in general, there are things that we really did like a lot about it. … Fabulous beaches … restaurants, just a great overall place for guests to come to take a Disney cruise. So we started there and we said, ‘Can this be a really good fit for our guests?’ And we said, ‘Yeah, we think it can.’”
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Melissa’s career in writing started more than 20 years ago. Today, she lives in South Florida with her husband and two boys.
