Port Everglades proposes terminal renovation, new agreement with Royal Caribbean

As construction kicks off for a new Royal Caribbean Cruises terminal in Miami, one of the company’s terminals in Port Everglades is also getting a facelift, the port announced Tuesday.

The customized renovation for Terminal 25 at Fort Lauderdale’s cruise port is part of a new proposed agreement with the Miami-based cruise company that would run through at least 2026. The memorandum of understanding must be approved by Broward County Commissioners before it’s finalized.

If approved, the proposed $75 million terminal project would be paid for by a county self-supporting enterprise fund, part of which was already slated for a neighboring terminal. The project, details of which haven’t been released yet, is set for completion by Oct. 31, 2018.

According to the memorandum, Royal Caribbean would have preferential access to the updated Terminal 25, existing Terminal 29 and Terminal 18, which was built in 2009 to accommodate the line’s massive Oasis-class ships.

In the first year, the company will pay Broward County $14 for each passenger Royal Caribbean brings into the terminals through its three cruise lines. For a single stop by Royal Caribbean International’s 5,494-passenger Harmony of the Seas, that’s nearly $77,000. The memorandum includes an option for the county to increase that amount through the remaining period of the agreement.

Royal Caribbean’s current agreement with the port expires at the end of 2017. The new agreement would be effective beginning January 1, 2018, and expire on Sept. 30, 2026. The arrangement includes options to extend the agreement first for four years, then for another five years.

Last week, Royal Caribbean broke ground in PortMiami to build a new state-of-the-art terminal that would welcome the line’s mega ships. That $247 million terminal project will be largely financed by the cruise company and bring Miami-Dade County $7.5 million in annual rent.

Since 2009, Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis-class ships have sailed from Fort Lauderdale. Now, the line’s latest Oasis- class ship, Symphony of the Seas, which will be the new biggest ship in the world, is set to start sailing from PortMiami in November 2018.

Allure of the Seas, which has traditionally sailed from Fort Lauderdale, will also move to Miami. Sister-ship Harmony of the Seas, the current record holder as the world’s largest cruise ship, will remain in Fort Lauderdale.

The completion of Terminal 25 at Port Everglades will likely coincide with the first sailing of Celebrity Edge, the newest ship from Royal Caribbean’s Celebrity Cruises premium line, which is set to call Fort Lauderdale home in fall 2018. On Monday, the line announced an array of innovative features that will be on the 2,900-passenger Edge, including infinity balconies and a cantilevered bar.

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Port Everglades proposes terminal renovation, new agreement with Royal Caribbean."