Royal Caribbean To Build New Cruise Terminal In Miami

A rendering of Royal’s new terminal in Miami. Photo: RCCL Corporate.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has signed an agreement with Miami-Dade County to open a new, exclusive cruise terminal at PortMiami.  

The new terminal will be able to accommodate the mammoth Oasis-class ships, which haven’t been able to homeport in Miami—the city where Royal is headquartered.  

The Oasis ship class includes the 1,200-foot-long Harmony of the Seas, which when it begins sailing out of Florida in November will have to do so out of Fort Lauderdale, as Miami can only hold ships of about 1,000 feet. Two other Oasis-class ships, the Oasis and Allure, currently sail from Port Everglades.

If approved by the Miami-Dade County Commission on July 6, the terminal is expected to be completed by 2018 and to accommodate ships up to 1,300 feet long.  

Port Miami director Juan Kuryla said the project “will cement us as the cruise capital of the world.” Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain called the project “a symbol of our commitment to Miami, the city where our company first started almost 50 years ago.” 

About 15% of Royal Caribbean’s traffic currently goes through Miami. Once the new terminal is completed, that number is expected to grow to 30% and its passenger capacity is expected to go from 750,000 to at least 1.8 million annually. 

The terminal also will bring an estimated $500 million to the city and generate approximately 4,000 jobs, said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.  

The terminal, being designed by architecture firm Broadway Malyan, will feature two separate glass-paneled buildings with slanted roofs and a connected parking garage that will hold about 1,000 cars.