Disney Cruise Line avoids hefty fine

by Leah Zanolla
Apr 4, 2008

Disney Cruise Line avoided paying a $400,000 penalty which was assessed when it did not schedule the required number of sailings from Port Canaveral this year. This condition was part of the recently completed contract negotiations extending Disney's commitment to Port Canaveral for the next 15 years.

With the Magic heading to the West Coast, Disney Cruise Line will be unable to meet the 150 sailings from Port Canaveral commitment. Under the terms of the current contract, the Port can fine Disney for the lost revenue or open the terminal to other cuise lines. This resulted in the $400,000 penalty.

The same situation occurred last year when Disney sailed to the Mediterranean. At that time, the penalty was only $100,000 due to Disney being able to offset the fine by factoring in the cruises which exceeded the minimum from previous years.

Stan Payne, Port Canaveral chief executive officer stated "It made no sense to Disney, nor did it to me" when commenting about the decision to proceed with contract talks with a penalty in place. He further stated "This was an opportunity to clean the slate. By cleaning the slate, it allowed things to move forward."

The new contract lowers the minimum annual sailings from 150 to 139 for 2008. Unconfirmed reports have the first of the two new ships arriving in February of 2011.

Under the new agreement, the Port Canaveral Authority will make $22 million in improvements, including an area for the characters to change as well as a $10 million parking garage. Disney will apply a $7 round trip surcharge to raise $2.4 million towards the debt.

• News Source
• Subscribe to this News Feed
• Last Updated: Feb 8, 2012 - 9:40:38 AM