As little as 10 minutes from arrival at the terminal to boarding the ship. That’s the claim of Royal Caribbean as it opened a new terminal in Miami geared for getting thousands of passengers onto its biggest ships with as little friction as possible.
Terminal A is the biggest yet in PortMiami and it will serve as home port for Royal Caribbean’s new generation of behemoths, including Symphony of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.
Brighter, roomier and more airport-like than the warehouse-style terminals that used to be the standard, the new terminal checks in guests by deck rather than have everyone snake in queues waiting for the next available agent. Guests check their luggage at the curb and pass into an enormous entry way with 30-foot-high ceilings to pass through security.
Escalators rise to the second level, where two golden propeller blades — larger than life and weighing 14,300 pounds — rotate 56 feet in the air. Interior spaces fitted with terrazzo floors and hanging LED candles create the mood of a hotel rather than a processing space.
The technology will shave an hour off the typical embarkation process, said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Passengers check in on-line and load a selfie and passport information and can print out their boarding pass at home. This can reduce the time from entering the terminal to boarding the ship to as little as 10 minutes, he claims.
The new terminal built in collaboration with Miami-Dade County resembles a ship itself, with dramatic jutting glass walls. At night, its three stories of floor-to- ceiling windows glow from interior lights. Broadway Malyan architects created the design for the terminal, which took a little over a year to build.
The existing terminals in Miami–built years ago–were just too small to handle the coming ultra-sized ship and so cruise lines are building their own. Previously, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis and Allure of the Seas sailed from PortEverglades in Fort Lauderdale.
And there’s another signature Miami terminal on the way. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. is building a see-through complex for Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises ships.
The construction timeline envisions it opening in time for the inaugural of Norwegian Encore, the last of the Breakaway-Plus class ships due in November, 2019, for cruises to the Caribbean.
The glass and aluminum terminal draws its inspiration from a nautilus, with a spiraled and multi-level façade, opening up to broad ocean views, said Willy Bermello, chairman of Miami-based architects Bermello Ajamil & Partners Inc.
The new terminal will fill in a gap in the port area that’s currently used for parking, east of Norwegian’s current Terminals B and C. The new terminal will be called Terminal B, and the existing terminals will be jointly called Terminal C. Together, the Norwegian terminals will have space for two 5,000-passenger ships at once and a parking structure.
And there’s also been a recent expansion and upgrading of Terminal F in Miami to accommodate MSC Cruises‘ new generation of cruise vessels including MSC Seaside.
Looking further ahead, Virgin Voyages is planning a palm-themed terminal to make Miami its home port for two ships it’s building. The new 100,000 square foot terminal in the northeast corner of the port will be a palm grove-inspired design concept developed by the Miami-based design firm Arquitectonica.
Inspired by Miami Beach’s palm trees, the terminal’s rooftop is designed to resemble a palm tree grove with rooftop pockets that allow natural light to flow into the building by day, and it will be lit by night with the company’s red logo. The two-story storm-proof glass facility will be replete with lush landscaping giving the terminal a plaza-like feel with designated areas for drop-offs of VIP’s, ride-sharing and provisioning, designed to provide a seamless shore to ship experience, Virgin says. It’s slated for completion by November, 2021.
Overall, PortMiami sees 4 million cruise passengers pass through its terminals every year, more than any other port in the world. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the new Terminal A will enable the port to go from serving 750,000 Royal Caribbean passengers annually– roughly 15 per cent of the port’s overall passenger traffic—to 2 million.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises will continue to use the existing Terminal G for mid-size Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships which are less than 1,000 feet long.
