JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three additional cruise ships will dock and remain at JaxPort during the cruise industry’s voluntary suspension of cruise operations during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release Saturday from the Jacksonville Port Authority.
That’s in addition to JaxPort’s regular home-ported ship, the Carnival Ecstasy, which was docked Saturday at JaxPort.
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According to the news release, the additional vessels will arrive in Jacksonville with only crew members on board and then lay idle due to berth capacity constraints at PortMiami, where the vessels are regularly home-ported. The crew will remain on the vessels while the ships are in Jacksonville, unless an exception is deemed necessary by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sky was scheduled to arrive Sunday at JaxPort’s Talleyrand Marine Terminal, and the company’s Norwegian Pearl is scheduled to dock next week at the port’s Dames Point Marine Terminal.
Another vessel, Norwegian Gem, will dock at JaxPort’s Blount Island Marine Terminal. The arrival date for that vessel was still being determined as of Saturday.
The vessels and their crew must be cleared by the U.S. Coast Guard and CBP upon their arrivals in Jacksonville, which is standard procedure.