Port Tampa Bay values the health and wellness of its employees, tenants, industry partners, visitors and our cruise line partners’ passengers.
We strive to create a healthy and safe environment at all times. At this point there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at Port Tampa Bay. While we have always enforced healthy habits and good hygiene, we have put more measures in place to keep our Port healthy and prevent the spread of all viruses, including COVID-19.
UPDATED: March 13, 2020
Port Tampa Bay supports the decisions of Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International to suspend sailings. The decision was made in the interest of public safety. As a reminder, Holland American Line, Celebrity Cruises and MSC Cruises were not scheduled to sail from Port Tampa Bay until November of 2020.
We encourage any impacted cruise passengers to contact their travel agent or cruise line directly for more information.
If you have questions about a specific cruise line's sailing schedule, your upcoming trip, or safety protocols, visit the below links for more information:
For options regarding your canceled cruise ship parking, please visit this link: Port Tampa Bay Refund Form
Here is an update from Cruise Lines International Association provided on April 21, 2020:
As the world continues to address challenges regarding COVID-19, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has been working with local and national governments around the world, as well as leading health authorities and our partners across the wider cruise community to coordinate our efforts during the ongoing suspension of worldwide cruise operations.
The top priority for our entire community—including cruise lines, travel agents, ports, destinations, suppliers and beyond—continues to be the health and safety of passengers, crew and the communities in the places we visit.
The fact remains that the vast majority of more than 270 cruise ships within the CLIA member fleet were not affected by this virus. This is due, in large part, to the aggressive measures adopted by CLIA oceangoing cruise lines in response to COVID-19 based on prevailing guidance from global health authorities, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Those measures include rigorous screening protocols, enhanced sanitation measures and the availability of onboard medical care and treatment 24/7.
Tragically, we know now that this virus can affect any setting where people come together to socialize and enjoy shared experiences. For this reason—and upon the WHO’s declaration of a pandemic in mid-March—CLIA oceangoing cruise lines took the unprecedented step to voluntarily suspend worldwide operations, making the cruise industry one of the first to do so.
Unfortunately, the suspension of cruise operations will have a pronounced detrimental effect on the global economy. The cruise industry generates more than $150 billion per year in global economic activity and supports over 1.17 million jobs worldwide. Cruising touches almost every sector, from transportation and agriculture, to hospitality and tourism, manufacturing and beyond. When the time is right for cruise ships to once again set sail, our community will be an important part of the global economic and societal recovery.
CLIA, on behalf of the wider cruise community, appreciates the constructive working relationships we share with global authorities around the world, including in North America, Europe, Australasia and South America. We will use this time during the suspension of global operations to continue to work with them to achieve our shared objective of going further still in our efforts to protect the health and safety of passengers, crew and public and to support recovery goals for tourism and business sector partners.
We have rigorous cleaning and sanitation practices in place to maintain our cruise terminals, and we are now implementing an additional in-depth and cutting-edge process using an antimicrobial product, called mPact. This new process complements several other cleaning and sanitization efforts, including deep cleaning each terminal following a cruise sailing, regularly cleaning and sanitizing high-touch areas like railings, doorknobs, and countertops, and increasing hand sanitizer available to passengers, while in the terminal.
When the product mPact is applied (and allowed to dry), it leaves a thin bonded film that, at the nano level, resembles millions of sword-shaped road spikes – spikes that kill bacteria. It has been lab-tested and is proven to be 99.99% effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
The antimicrobial is colorless, odorless, and can be applied to wood or steel framing, sheetrock, carpets, upholstery and painted surfaces. Once the product is sprayed on, it bonds to the surface and retains its effectiveness for a minimum of 30 days. In comparison, most household disinfectants have to be on a surface for 10 minutes or more to “disinfect” or kill all the germs on the surface, and once they are dry, germ buildup resumes.
mPact will be used to clean and provide a protective barrier to all surfaces at our cruise terminals moving forward, including each upholstered chair. The high-touch areas will be treated after every cruise, and each terminal will be treated every 30 days.