Carnival to Expand Its Long Beach Cruise Terminal Facility

Carnival Cruise Line Miami-based cruise ship company Carnival Cruise Line has signed an agreement under which it would nearly triple the size of the Long Beach Cruise Terminal facility from 66,000 square feet to 142,000 square feet to accommodate larger ships in the future. Carnival has operated the Long Beach Cruise Terminal since 2003 using a partial area of the Geodesic Dome that was the former museum housing Howard Hughes Spruce Goose attraction. The agreement gives Carnival 100 percent use of the Dome, allowing for larger ships and providing additional space needed to accommodate two-way operations, enabling embarking guests to access the terminal prior to completion of disembarkation. The cruise ship company said that the construction is slated to be completed in late 2017. For years we have been working toward reaching an agreement to expand the Long Beach Cruise Terminal to accommodate larger ships on the West Coast, and were thrilled to finally be able to move forward with our plans to assume full usage of the Dome, making Long Beach one of our largest homeport facilities, Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, said. Plans also include expansion of portside cold-ironing capacity to accommodate larger vessels, enabling cruise ships to plug into the local electric grid and reduce exhaust emissions while docked.