Page 26 - Port of Baltimore Magazine May/June 2011

[26] The Port of Baltimore ■ May/June 2011 To subscribe or renew, visitwww.marylandports.com
SERVICE
AWARD
Presented
to Intercruises
The new walkway — one of the latest
improvements to a Cruise Maryland terminal
that welcomed a record number of passengers
last year — comes complete with an integrated
rotunda and glass-mounted telescopic tunnels.
In addition to being fully enclosed, it is heated,
air-conditioned, able to withstand high winds
and adjustable to accommodate different-sized
cruise ships.
By contrast, passengers previously had to
brave the elements as they crossed a 40-year-old,
open-air gangway to board a waiting cruise ship.
“I have personally used the [new] passenger
bridge, and it is light years away from the old
gangway,” said Scott Babus of Going Places
Travel, a full-service travel agency in Baltimore.
Babus likened the previous structure to
“something from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’”
Maryland Port Administration (MPA)
Executive Director James J. White explained
during the April 11 unveiling that upgrades at
the South Locust Point cruise terminal are in
line with recent increases in the Port’s cruise
business. The Port has gone from 27 calls in
2006 to a year-round schedule of 112 calls in
2011, with nearly every trip sold at 100 percent
capacity.
“It’s very satisfying to see the cruise
business growing in Baltimore,” White said. “We
knew we had the population here to support it;
now, it only makes sense to continue to invest
in the terminal and our cruise capabilities.”
According to White, later this year a
temporary canopy that helps protect passengers
as they move from the terminal building to the
boarding bridge should be replaced with a
“whole new section of glass panels.” And for the
long term, the MPA is investigating the viability
of a second cruise terminal — perhaps located
at the Port’s North Locust Point Terminal to
complement Cruise Maryland’s current facility
at South Locust Point. Both sites would be
conveniently accessible via Interstate 95.
A public-private partnership agreement,
similar to the one signed by the MPA and
Ports America last year for the operation of the
Seagirt container terminal, could be an option.
“We’re looking into whether it’s possible to
follow that model,” White said.
Meanwhile, the region is enjoying economic
benefits to the tune of $90 million per year
thanks to the cruise industry. “The sky’s the
limit in terms of what we can continue to do
here,” Swaim-Staley said. “There was a time
not so very long ago when you thought about
this Port as only a cargo port. … Baltimore has
become an extremely popular port for cruising.”
As Babus noted regarding Baltimore’s
share of the cruise market, “We started from
humble beginnings, and look at us now —
one of the most highly rated and respected
Ports in the country. … The passenger bridge
represents a bridge to the future — one filled
with possibilities.”
Intercruises, which
provides ground handling
and port agency services
to the cruise industry,
won an award from Royal
Caribbean in March
for services it provided in
Baltimore to
Celebrity Cruises.
Intercruises won the 2010
Ascending Star Award for
Celebrity Cruises Most
Improved. This is the
second time it has won
an award in Baltimore;
it previously won the
award for Best First Turn
Operation. The Royal
Caribbean Ground Handler
Awards, which are based
on the competition
between all Celebrity and
Royal Caribbean ground
handlers worldwide,
were held aboard
Royal Caribbean’s Majesty
of the Seas.
The Port has gone from 27 calls in 2006 to a
year-round schedule of 112 calls in 2011,
with nearly every trip sold at 100 percent capacity.
2010
Ascending
Star Award
INTERCRUISE S
Admiring the new boarding
bridge are, from left, Maryland
Transportation Secretary Beverley
K. Swaim-Staley, MPA Executive
Director James J. White
and Robert Rose of Royal Caribbean.