Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sky arrived in Jacksonville March 15 during the cruise industry’s voluntary suspension of U.S. operations because of the new coronavirus.
Norwegian Sky sailed past Fort Caroline about noon on its way to JaxPort’s Talleyrand Marine Terminal near Downtown.
JaxPort announced March 14 that four cruise ships, including the home-ported Carnival Ecstasy, will dock in Jacksonville.
Carnival Ecstasy is home-ported in Jacksonville and arrived March 14.
The additional three vessels are home-ported in PortMiami, where capacity constraints forced other accommodations.
“We are committed to doing our part to support our fellow Florida ports and our partners in the cruise industry during this time,” said JaxPort CEO Eric Green in a news release.
“We will continue to work closely with our federal, state, and local agencies to monitor the situation and adjust operations as needed,” he said.
Norwegian said it is suspending cruises until April 12. Carnival is suspending service until April 10.
The three ships will arrive with crew members who will remain on the vessels unless an exception is deemed necessary by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The crew also remains on the Carnival Ecstasy, docked at its regular location at the JaxPort Cruise Terminal.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl is scheduled to dock at the port’s Dames Point Marine Terminal this week.
An additional vessel, Norwegian Gem, will dock at JaxPort’s Blount Island Marine Terminal. JaxPort said the arrival date is being determined.
The vessels and their crew must be cleared by the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection upon their arrival in Jacksonville, which is standard procedure.
JaxPort said idling at a port rather than at sea increases fuel efficiencies and provides easy access to necessary provisions for crew members and the ships.
JaxPort posts updates on JaxPort.com/Covid-19 and on the port’s social media channels.
Vessel arrivals can be tracked using JaxPort's online vessel schedule.
