The JAXPORT Cruise Terminal () is a "temporary"

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The facility located at the northwest corner of the ''Dames Point Marine Terminal'', beside the

Dames Point Bridge The Dames Point Bridge (officially the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge) is a cable-stayed bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida on the Interstate 295 East Beltway. Construction began in 1985 and was completed in 1989. The m ...

. It was completed in six months during 2003 and is a facility at the

Port of Jacksonville The Port of Jacksonville (Jaxport) is an international trade seaport on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The 14th largest container port in the United States, it carries about 18 million short tons of cargo each year and has an annu ...

, administered by the

Jacksonville Port Authority The Jacksonville Port Authority (JPA) also known by its brand name, JAXPORT, is the independent government agency in Jacksonville, Florida, that owns and operates much of the seaport system at the Port of Jacksonville. History The Jacksonville P ...

. The baggage handling area is ; and a passenger embarkation section has . Vehicle access to the site is via Hecksher Drive and there is paved parking for about 600 cars.

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 19 ...

began regular service from Jacksonville on October 27, 2003 on the

MV Zenith The ''Zenith'' was a Cruise ship built in 1992 by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany for Celebrity Cruises as ''Zenith''. After a career for Pullmantur Cruises and Croisières de France she was sold for scrapping in Alang, India in 2022. Histor ...

."Jacksonville: America's First Port"
Jaxport Celebrity discontinued their service from Jacksonville in 2005. The ship ''

Carnival Miracle ''Carnival Miracle'' is a operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Built by Kværner Masa-Yards at its Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland, she was floated out on June 5, 2003, and christened by United States Army soldier Jessica Lynch in J ...

'' was christened at the Port of Jacksonville on February 27, 2004, beginning Jacksonville service by

Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

. The Carnival Miracle was replaced by Carnival Cruise Lines'

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

, which sailed between JAXPORT and The Bahamas from May 2004 through August 2004. Carnival established year-round cruise service from Jacksonville aboard the Celebration on October 12, 2004. The Celebration continued to sail between JAXPORT and The Bahamas through April 2008. After a four-month hiatus in service, Carnival restarted Jacksonville-Bahamas cruise service aboard the

Carnival Fascination ''Carnival Fascination'', originally ''Fascination'', was a cruise ship built at Helsinki, Finland in 1994. For most of her service with Carnival Cruise Lines she operated out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2017 ''Carnival Fascination'' was charte ...

, which provided service from Jacksonville until April 2016, being replaced with

Carnival Elation ''Carnival Elation'' (formerly ''Elation'') is a operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Built by Kværner Masa-Yards at its Helsinki New Shipyard in Finland, she was floated out on January 4, 1998, and christened as ''Elation'' by Shari Arison Dorsm ...

. The Carnival Elation was replaced by the Carnival Ectasy in 2019. As of 2022, cruises from Jacksonville visit the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

and

Eastern Caribbean The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS; French: ''Organisation des États de la Caraïbe orientale'', OECO) is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal ri ...

sailed aboard the

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

all cruises were suspended. The first cruise post-pandemic was the American Queen Voyages ship, ''Ocean Voyager'' which departed February 21, 2022 for a 12-day cruise to destinations along the Atlantic coast. The

Carnival Spirit ''Carnival Spirit'' is a operated by Carnival Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Built in Helsinki by Kværner Masa-Yards, she was the first ''Spirit''-class cruise ship to join Carnival's fleet after she was delivered i ...

operated from Jacksonville from March 7, 2022 to April 9th, 2022. Five cruise ships were chartered to serve as floating hotels during the week preceding

Super Bowl XXXIX Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League ( ...

in February 2005. Four of the vessels docked at JAXPORT terminals, providing over 3,500 rooms plus restaurants and night clubs for fans. The Jacksonville Port Authority had plans to relocate the cruise terminal. In 2008, an parcel was purchased in the small fishing village of Mayport as the site of a permanent $60 million facility. The economic crisis delayed the project, and opposition from local residents was vehement; a lawsuit seeking an injunction was filed. In March 2010, the authority announced that they were starting over and reviewing all possible locations for the cruise terminal."JaxPort to reconsider cruise ship terminal in Mayport"
Florida Times-Union, March 26, 2010Dixon, Drew
"Jacksonville Port Authority looking at 20 sites for possible cruise ship terminal"
Florida Times-Union, May 20, 2010.

References

External links

Page of the Jacksonville Port Authority's website
{{Jacksonville attractions Buildings and structures in Jacksonville, Florida Ports and harbors of the Florida Atlantic coast Transportation in Jacksonville, Florida Northside, Jacksonville Passenger ship terminals Transportation buildings and structures in Duval County, Florida 2003 establishments in Florida Buildings and structures completed in 2003