On Thursday, November 12, 2020, Port Canaveral held a virtual State of the Port event which included an update on the Disney Cruise terminal renovation project. Bill Crowe, Vice President, Engineering, Construction and Facilities led viewers around the port’s various facilities which included Disney Cruise Line’s terminal 8 (CT8). Crowe took the time to highlight the project’s key features including the extended drop off canopy, arrival hall, and the waiting area on the second floor. While much of the update was previously shared during the October commission meeting we did get a first look at the renovated second floor waiting area where there has been a significant change.
The arrival plaza has been extended both with a covered canopy and open air space to allow guest to congregate before entering the terminal.
The drop off/pick up canopy was extended to accommodate more vehicles to reduce the traffic back up out of the port on busy port turnover days.
The arrival plaza where the guest security screening took place has been expanded with contractors working on various aspects such as the flooring.
The most siginifcant change is the removal of the full bank of check in desks on the second floor to allow for more seating. Additionally, the glorious original terrazzo floor was repaired.
In December, a new gangway is scheduled for delivery from Spain and will be installed where you see the doorway framing in the the images below. Once installed and operations, the other gangway will be disassembled.
One positive of the No Sail Order was the construction at the terminal was sped up as contractors did not need to make accommodations around the construction site for cruise operations. As a result, the project is on track for completion in April 2021.
The video below shows the portion of the event showcasing the Disney Cruise Terminal renovations and ends with CEO Captain John Murray discussing the path forward for the resumption of cruise operations.
For more coverage on Port Canaveral’s 2020 State of the Port event, please check out the following twitter thread where I live tweeted the event.
Thanks, Scott! Since the 2nd floor check in desks are gone, wondering your thoughts on how port arrival would work.
The check in desk aren’t gone they’re still there, they just reduced the length of the counter that contained all the check in positions, there are still check in’s done once you enter the 2nd floor level as you’ve always done I guess they’re expecting the check in process to be more streamlined. The biggest benefit to the remodel is that there are many more seats for guests to wait until boarding, which was always a big issue, especially for the Dream class ships.
Thank you for sharing this information. I found it extremely interesting on several levels. We have a Greek Isles cruise scheduled for next June, and I’ve been wondering if it will happen.
Thank you for all this info.