COVID-19 not slowing things down at Port Canaveral, CEO says

COVID not slowing things down at Port Canaveral, CEO says

Port Canaveral’s CEO Captain John Murray says their cruising numbers were strong through the holidays.

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - Port Canaveral’s CEO Captain John Murray says their cruising numbers were strong through the holidays and right now they are running at about 70% capacity for all their cruise lines

He also says there are 10 homeported ships at the port with the Carnival Liberty ready to join in a few weeks. 

Murray says if they got through the past two years with COVID-19 disrupting the industry, they can get through this.

"This is another cycle of COVID, and it is how you manage it and the ships are managing it, the cruise lines are managing it and I think at the end of the day this is what we will have to do for the foreseeable future, even after it becomes an endemic, and we deal with it in our daily lives," Murray said

Murray says January and February are usually slower for cruising, but the ultimate passenger test will be spring break.

Hundreds of passengers boarded the Disney Dream on Monday ready for their four-night cruise sailing out of Port Canaveral. 

RELATED: CDC warns against cruise ship travel, 'regardless of vaccination status'

This followed new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying all travelers, even vaccinated ones, should avoid cruising amid the spread of the omicron variant. 

Watch FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.