L.A. Port’s New Terminal Ready for Cruise Ships, Era of Growth

When the cruise ship Azure Seas glides into the Los Angeles Harbor today to pick up passengers for a weekend sail to Santa Catalina Island and Ensenada, it will quietly make history.

Without ceremony or fanfare, the 600-foot ship will be the first to berth at a gleaming new $11-million passenger terminal--the first major project to be completed at the Port of Los Angeles’ World Cruise Center in San Pedro.

Yet the slick state-of-the-art terminal--with its concourse overlooking the harbor’s main channel, nautical design elements, and white, blue and orange color scheme--is more than just a pleasant amenity for passengers. It is a symbol of the fast-growing cruise industry in Los Angeles.

Since 1979, port officials say, the number of cruise passengers traveling through Los Angeles has increased more than 400%, from about 94,500 to more than 400,000 annually. They say that makes Los Angeles the second-busiest cruise-ship port in the country, behind Miami.

Although those figures are in dispute (the Cruise Lines International Assn. says Los Angeles, which counts its passengers both coming and going, is actually the nation’s fifth-busiest port, after Miami and three others in Florida), industry officials agree that the surge in cruise travel through Los Angeles has been dramatic.

Monday, the figures will jump once more when Norwegian Caribbean Lines makes Los Angeles the year-round home port for the Southward, joining the Azure Seas and Carnival Cruise Lines’ Tropicale. The Southward and Azure Seas run three-, four- or seven-day cruises to Catalina, San Diego and Ensenada, a Mexican fishing village, while the Tropicale runs seven-day cruises to the Mexican Riviera. Other ships make Los Angeles a stopping point for cruises, or a home port for part of the year.

Port officials expect the Southward to boost traffic through Los Angeles by another 20%, with as many as 1,500 additional passengers departing each week.

Factor in Economy

For the region’s economy, this means more people spending more money in hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions such as Disneyland, Universal Studios and, in the cruise center’s backyard, Ports O’Call Village in San Pedro. According to a report published last year by the Port Everglades Authority in South Florida, each cruise passenger spends an average of $225 in an area while in port.

“It’s becoming an important factor in the Southern California economy,” said Bob Dickinson, a senior vice president at Carnival Cruises. “We have pre- and post-cruise packages to Hollywood and Disneyland and the whole deal.”

Those in the industry say a number of factors are responsible for the boom in Los Angeles cruise travel: an increase in cruising in general (this is commonly attributed to advertising, the popularity of short weekend cruises and the television show “Love Boat”); growing interest in sailing to the Mexican Riviera, and the prosperous Southern California area, with its proximity to desirable destinations and its massive population.

“This is a big city, it’s a big city to draw from,” said Alex Currie, West Coast general manager of Admiral Cruise Line, which owns the Azure Seas. “Southern California is growing every day.”

“It’s a natural port of embarkation for a concentration of people who cruise the (Panama) Canal, South America, the Pacific and the Mexican Riviera, and Alaska as well,” said Joe Garvey, vice president of marketing for Royal Viking Line, which runs luxury cruises. “It is a very convenient gateway for one of the country’s largest and most populous states, which has a great number of cruising people.”

Continued Growth Expected

Indeed, 40% of those who take a cruise in North America are from California, and half of that group comes from Southern California, according to Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Sitmar Cruises. That gives the Port of Los Angeles a built-in market, she said.

No one expects Los Angeles to catch up with Miami, which is far and away the most heavily used port, with 1.25 million cruise passengers annually, according to the Cruise Lines International Assn., a trade group.

But Benson and others expect the growth in Los Angeles to continue steadily, even in light of an 8% dip in the number of passengers between 1986 and 1987. Port officials call that “an aberration” and say the arrival of the Southward and other ships expected in the future will more than make up for it.

To cope with the increasing demand, the Harbor Department several years ago contacted various cruise lines and proposed what both sides say is a novel arrangement in the cruise industry: development of the World Cruise Center, a 75-acre parcel that would be operated by a consortium of the lines and dedicated solely to passenger rather than cargo operations.

Six companies--Princess Cruises, Admiral Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Viking Line, Sitmar Cruises and Cunard Line--formed the consortium, called LA Cruise Ship Terminals Inc. In exchange for paying back the cost of design and construction, they were given a say over renovations of the existing terminal, completed last year, and over design of the new terminal and other facilities to come.

Development Plans

According to Mandia, this is the first time cruise lines have ever signed a lease guaranteeing a port money. The lease calls for LA Cruise Ship Terminals to pay the port a minimum of $2 million a year, based on an average docking fee of $2,400 plus a $7 fee per passenger each way. Once the $2 million figure is reached, the consortium may keep half the passenger fee.

According to Mandia, the Harbor Department has been earning about $5 million a year, including parking fees, from the cruise center operation.

CRUISE TRAFFIC Number of cruise passengers traveling through each port during 1987.

Port Passengers

Miami 1.25 million

Port Canaveral, Fla. 364,000

Port Everglades, Fla. 295,000

Tampa 274,000

Los Angeles 202,400

New York City 200,000

Vancouver, B.C. 147,000

San Juan, P.R. 109,000

Palm Beach, Fla. 105,000

San Francisco 28,000

New Orleans 19,000

Seattle 10,500

San Diego 9,000

Source: Cruise Lines International