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Port of Palm Beach May Gain Regular Multi-Day Cruise Line

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 February 2006, 18:00 CST

By Tom Stieghorst, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Feb. 21--Imperial Majesty Cruise Line is considering moving its 2-day Bahamas cruise operation to the Port of Palm Beach which, if it occurs, would provide the Riviera Beach port with its first regular multi-day cruise line.

The talks come after the gambling ship Big Easy suspended service, possibly opening a berth at the port.

Arthur Pollack, president of Pompano Beach-based Imperial Majesty, said the decision about whether to move or to stay put at its current home in Port Everglades will be based on which port makes the most sense for Imperial Majesty.

"In the long run, we'll have to evaluate all the numbers and see where we come out," Pollack said.

Several cruise firms have expressed an interest in coming to the Port of Palm Beach, said Port Director Lori Baer. They are angling for a berth controlled by Royal Star Entertainment that is not being used since Big Easy stopped sailing on Feb. 2.

Royal Star's contract with the port calls for a minimum of 40 sailings a month, and is subject to termination if Royal Star falls short twice in 12 months.

"They were in default in January. Obviously they'll be in default for February," said George Mastics, chairman of the board of commissioners for the port. Mastic said it would be up to Royal Star to decide whether it can restart operations.

Efforts to reach Francis Murray, vice president of Royal Star, were unsuccessful.

Big Easy stopped sailing because it couldn't get enough crew certified by the U.S. Coast Guard, which has a backlog of such requests.

Imperial Majesty began cruising from Port Everglades in 1999 and is the only cruise line that offers two-day cruises to Nassau. It carries about 250,000 passengers a year, or about 12 percent of the port's multi-day passenger base, said Port Director Phil Allen.

"This year, we project revenue from (Imperial Majesty) of $2.8 million, which is not insignificant," Allen said.

Allen said Port Everglades would like to keep Imperial Majesty and earlier this month offered the line a multi-year berthing agreement. .

A problem for Imperial Majesty at Port Everglades has been the growing number of cruise ships based there. Cruise ship calls jumped from 2,215 in 2003 to 2,854 in 2004, the latest year for which final figures are available.

Because it doesn't have a permanent agreement, Imperial Majesty's ship gets moved to different berths depending on which other ships are in port. That wouldn't be the case at the Port of Palm Beach, Pollack said.

"We would be the principal tenant instead of the anomaly," Pollack said.

Also, security costs are lower at the smaller Port of Palm Beach than at Port Everglades, which has a major gasoline storage terminal.

But moving to Palm Beach County would shift Imperial Majesty from the geographic middle of South Florida, with its close proximity to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, to a less central location.

"Palm Beach is at one of the extremes of the area we serve," Pollack said.

Landing a multi-day cruise line would add variety to the Port of Palm Beach, where the regular passenger services include a day cruise line, Palm Beach Casino Cruises, and a Bahamas ferry called Cloud X.

It would also fill a financial hole left by Big Easy, which was budgeted to provide about $500,000 in revenue this year.

Baer said the idled ship's future is likely to be discussed when commissioners for the Port of Palm Beach District meet on Feb. 23.

"There's no question we need to find some resolution," Baer said.

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Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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