Florida has a lot of cruise ports.
You can sail from Miami and Fort Lauderdale, two ports that are very close to the cities' airports, or opt for smaller ports with the same convenience, like Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, and even West Palm Beach where Margaritaville at Sea has its MAS Paradise based.
Yet another, Port Canaveral, trails only Miami when it comes to passengers boarding ships there, but it's a very different cruise port. While Port Miami and Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) are less than 15-minute rides from the closest airport, Port Canaveral is roughly an hour from the airport in Orlando.
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That location has positives and negatives. First, many cruisers leaving from Port Canaveral spend some time at one of Orlando's many theme parks. It's easy to visit Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld or second-tier parks, then hop on your cruise.
Flying into Orlando also gives cruisers lot of options as to where to stay the night before. You can opt for cheaper hotels by the airport or stay right near Port Canaveral; at both you're likely to find nicer rooms for the money than you can usually find in Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
Port Canaveral is becoming a global cruising capital, and Celebrity Cruises will homeport Celebrity Equinox there beginning Dec. 3 after the ship completes a transatlantic trip from Lisbon.
Image source: Dan Kline/Come Cruise With Me
Celebrity Cruises comes to Port Canaveral
For the first time Celebrity Cruises (RCL) will sail out of Orlando’s Port Canaveral, with 20 new itineraries from Dec. 3, 2024, to April 19, 2025, on board the intimate Celebrity Equinox.
With most itineraries spanning 7 nights, travelers will have the opportunity to visit highly sought-after Caribbean destinations like the Bahamas, Belize, Grand Cayman, Mexico, San Juan and St. Maarten. Just in time for Spring Break, two sailings, on March 1 and March 15, will visit Perfect Day at CocoCay.
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Having launched in 2009, Celebrity Equnox was extensively remodeled in 2019 and had a smaller renovation earlier this year. She's a Solstice-Class ship, the cruise line's midsize line, but it has many features offered on the larger Edge-Class ships in the fleet.
Those amenities include the signature Martini Bar, Cafe al Bacio, the World Class Bar and the Craft Social sports bar. In addition, the ship offers the French restaurant Murano, Sushi on 5, the Italian steakhouse Tuscan Grill and others.
It's a smaller ship that never feels crowded or lacking amenities. And with capacity of a bit more than 3,000 people, enough passengers are on board to ensure that cruisers have fun, but not so many that it's overwhelming.
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"We are thrilled to welcome Celebrity Cruises as our new partner and honored to be part of their Caribbean expansion plans,” Port Canaveral Chief Executive Capt. John Murray said in a statement.
“The demand for Celebrity Cruise sailings from our Port has been growing. Now, with Celebrity Equinox homeported here, there are great opportunities for even more cruise travelers to experience the cruise line’s high-quality experience while experiencing the comfort and ease of travel provided by our Port."
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