Enhancing the port experience
“Stay and play at the Big Bay,” a wall-sized sign urged me as I waited inside the cruise terminal at the Port of San Diego. Nearby, another sign told me to “Cruise San Diego. There’s no place like this on Earth.”
I was in the city to tour Holland America Line’s Westerdam, which began round-trip sailings to Mexico and Hawaii from San Diego earlier this fall. The line is increasing its San Diego cruises — and the visitors it brings into the city — by 65%.
Holland America isn’t the only line that sails out of San Diego; Princess Cruises is another regular, and various other lines visit too. But Holland America is the main player.
Port officials expect to tally more than 90 cruise-ship calls this year that will bring 210,000 passengers, an economic shot in the arm for San Diego. Each home-ported cruise (a voyage that begins or ends in the city) generates nearly $2 million, according to a 2015 economic impact study by Oakland-based EPS, Economic and Planning Systems.
The good news for you and me? Our local ports — San Diego, Los Angeles (San Pedro) and Long Beach — also are working hard to attract us. They’re beautifying harbor areas, building new roads, adding pedestrian esplanades and improving tourist amenities.
They want us to choose to sail locally instead of taking off for Miami, Seattle or other distant ports, saving us time and money.
In San Diego, I strolled along a nicely landscaped pedestrian esplanade that runs from North Harbor Drive in front of the Navy Pier, home of the USS Midway Museum, to the port’s B Street Terminal, where cruise ships berth.
“We have been partnering with our cruise partners, making improvements to port security and enhancing itineraries,” said Marshall Merrifield, chairman of the Board of Port Commissioners.
“We’ve also been putting in improvements to the cruise terminal and to the North Embarcadero area adjacent to it to improve the guest experience.”
San Diego’s port upgrades include public gardens and seating areas, public art, a visitor information center, a walk-up café, restrooms and a Marriott Residence Inn/Springhill Suites that opened in April. A 400-room InterContinental is under construction.
The Port of Los Angeles also has been busy, renovating its World Cruise Center and the L.A. waterfront, spending more than $60 million since 2003. About 125 cruise ships visit annually, carrying more than 600,000 passengers.
(Despite its name, the Port of Los Angeles is actually in San Pedro, about 25 miles south of downtown L.A.)
Princess Cruises home ports more ships in the Port of L.A. than any other line, but Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean also sail regularly from L.A., and other lines call on the port. Many ships head south to Mexico or west to Hawaii, but they’re not the only destinations.
The L.A. waterfront, which includes projects covering more than 400 acres, has changed dramatically in the last decade, adding such features as the Crafted marketplace, the Fanfare Fountains, USS Iowa historical landmark and other recreational improvements.
Next up: Ports O’ Call Village will get a $100-million makeover and be renamed the San Pedro Public Market.
The Port of Long Beach is also undergoing passenger-focused changes. This spring Carnival, which has three ships sailing regularly from the port offering Baja and Mexican Riviera cruises, plans to begin improvements inside the Queen Mary Dome, which is used by embarking and debarking passengers.
It will also prepare the facility for the arrival of the 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor in January 2018, which will join the line’s Carnival Imagination and Inspiration.