Next month, it will be eight years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans. At the time, there was some doubt if the most famous city below sea level would ever recover.
Not that this makes the recovery complete by any means, but the cruise news from New Orleans is all good. More cruises, more passengers, more money…and if ever a city outside of Detroit needed a kick in the economy, it was Nawlins.
Here are some figures, courtesy of the Cruise Lines International Association:
• Number of passengers in 2012 almost a million, up 32 per cent from 2011
• Cruise industry spending of $399 million, up 42.5 per cent
• Jobs generated — 7,548, or 2,036 more than the previous year
• Income from jobs generated — $294 million, up 39 per cent
• 80 per cent of the passengers from out of state, and 60 per cent of them spend at least two nights in the city before or after cruising
• Money spent by passengers and cruise ship crews of $78.4 million, more than half of it from lodging, food and beverage
As a result, New Orleans has moved up three spots and is No. 6 among the largest cruise ports in the U.S. Some of it comes from the altruistic and ongoing desire to help the city hit so hard by violent weather. Some of it is just because New Orleans is New Orleans.
Celebrity Millennium
11 nights
October 22, 2013
Ensenada, Lahaina, Nawilwili, Kilauea Volcano, Hilo, Kona, Honolulu
Inside: $949
Cost per day: $86
www.celebritycruises.com