Mobile, Alabama is in talks to bring another cruise line to the southern port as demand is exceeding the terminal’s capacity.
Carnival Spirit is currently the only ship that sails out of Mobile, and the terminal has a limitation that city officials want to solve.
Adding another cruise ship will require adding parking spaces. The current terminal has 500 parking spots, and those spaces sell out quickly. Even when the smaller 2,000-passenger Carnival Ecstasy sailed out of Mobile, the parking lot was full.
More parking spots equal more revenue for the cruise port, but it also means attracting other cruise lines to sail out of Mobile.
With demand for cruising only growing, city leaders are planning to add another 250 parking spaces so another cruise ship could be accommodated.
The plan would add another two levels to the parking garage, and this could happen as soon as 2025.
Visit Mobile CEO David Clark said that the terminal sells out of parking spaces with every cruise. But now demand is even higher.
“The demand is already far greater than it’s ever been,” Clark stated. “So that’s a really exciting thing.”
He said that Carnival Ecstasy sailed around 90% capacity, but Carnival Spirit is seeing 100% capacity on every sailing.
According to city leaders, several cruise lines have already contacted the Mobile cruise port, expressing interest in coming to the city. The main obstacle has been parking capacity, a problem the city intends to solve soon.
An unnamed cruise line could be coming in 2025 and another in 2027 if the Mobile City Council agrees on the parking terminal at the next meeting.
Carnival Spirit is currently offering 6- to 14-night sailings out of Mobile and is scheduled to homeport in the city until 2027.