Port Canaveral took center stage starting Sunday.
As Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean are all in Brevard County to pick up new passengers, port commissioners are looking to the future.
We recently learned commissioners are planning to vote next month to build a new $80 million cruise terminal complex.
The Port Authority is already in negotiations to bring in one or two more ships to use the new terminal.
Port Canaveral is trying to beat Miami as the busiest cruise port in the world.
They hope to develop even more profitable relationships when hundreds of port authorities converge there this week for the American Association of Port Authorities’ 102nd annual convention.
“We get the opportunity, in terms of visibility, for both our cargo business and our cruise business to be featured and for people, really worldwide, certainly in this hemisphere, to understand Port Canaveral’s cruise presence is and how aggressive we are in developing our cargo business,” said Canaveral Port Authority Chairman Tom Weinberg.
The convention is being split between Orlando and Port Canaveral.
Later this week, the new Welcome Center will host its first reception for convention goers here at the port.
Port Canaveral is also planning a huge channel widening project to allow larger cruise and cargo ships into the port. The project should begin next month.