As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wane, the cruise business is picking back up in places like New Orleans. Jessica Ragusa, communications director with the Port of New Orleans, says next year should be a record year for cruising out of the Big Easy. “We’re anticipating 285 ship calls for the 2022 calendar year which is the most we’ve ever had here,” says Ragusa.
By comparison, there were 251 cruises in 2019 out of New Orleans, involving both ocean-going vessels and river cruises. The comeback began with the arrival of the Norwegian Breakaway last Sunday, a noteworthy milestone after cruises completely stopped in March 2020 due to the pandemic.
Ragusa says efforts are in place to ensure the safety of passengers against the spread of the coronavirus as they cruise in and out of the Port of New Orleans. She says, “there’s a lot of protocols put in place going beyond federal mandates, vaccinations, testing requirements and everything like that.”
Ragusa says cruises into and out of New Orleans provide a significant economic impact to the city, regional and state economy. “We’re looking at $125,000,000 to the local economy that these passengers are spending,” says Ragusa. She says that includes 300-thousand hotel room nights alone over a year’s time in New Orleans, with most guests traveling into the city from out of state. More than 70 percent are said to spend a day or two in the city before or after their cruise.
New Orleans is ranked the sixth-largest cruise port in the nation with the demand growing for cruises to the Caribbean and up the Mississippi River.
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