Port Canaveral welcomes first Celebrity Cruise ship

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - Saturday morning, Port Canaveral welcomed a new arrival. The Celebrity Cruise ship Equinox docked at the port, marking the first time Celebrity has based a ship at Port Canaveral. "It's the first time we've had Celebrity call Port Canaveral home. It's been a long time in the making, so we're really pleased to have the ship here," said Port Canaveral CEO Capt. John Murray.

Dancers and a band performed in the ship's main theater. Afterwards, Capt. Murray and the Equinox captain, Nikolaos Frantzis, exchanged commemorative plaques to mark the occasion. "Orlando, Florida, it's a pleasure to be here and we're looking forward to continue calling to this beautiful port and to have excellent relations with all of you," Capt. Frantzis said.

Murray said they worked hard getting Celebrity to base a ship in Port Canaveral. "Celebrity's been primarily in south Florida and we've always tried to convince them our drive-in market in Port Canaveral would be an attractive market for them."

Equinox became Port Canaveral’s 15th vessel to call the world’s second-busiest cruise port home. The ship can accommodate nearly 3,000 passengers. While they're based in Port Canaveral, the Equinox is going to be making seven-day cruises to the Caribbean.

Equinox will sail from Port Canaveral’s Cruise Terminal 1 to destinations including the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Mexico, San Juan and St. Maarten. Murray said they were continuing to talk with Celebrity about plans for Port Canaveral. Travel agent Ed Tenuto, with Castaway Dream Travel, said Celebrity was a good fit for the port. "It gives us a lot of options. Our client base is very interested in Celebrity, so we're very excited about that."