Baltimore cruise industry hopes Key Bridge channel reopens in time for busy June

The typically bustling Cruise Maryland Terminal has been empty of vacationers since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

In 2023, Maryland Port Administration spokesperson Richard Scher said, 444,000 passengers boarded cruises in the terminal, the highest total since 2012.

Eight cruise ships are scheduled to depart in June.

“We are expecting our channel to be reopened by the end of May,” Scher said.

The Dali, a cargo ship with thousands of containers aboard, has sat in the Patapsco River since it struck one of the Key Bridge’s support piers March 26, collapsing the span into the water and killing six construction workers. Crews plan to use explosives Monday to remove bridge and roadway wreckage that has been lodged on top of the ship. Removing the ship is a major step toward reopening the 50-foot-deep shipping channel, which authorities have said will be usable by the end of May.

The cruise terminal primarily services ships from Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise lines, and the Norwegian Cruise Line also occasionally uses the terminal. Typically cruises are round trips, although there are some one-way transatlantic offerings. Neither Carnival nor Royal Caribbean responded to a request for comment.

Royal Caribbean cruise ships left Baltimore on a 13-night trip March 15 and a 12-night trip March 23, and both ships returned to Norfolk, Virginia, where buses took passengers back to their cars in Baltimore, according to the Cruise Maryland Terminal 2024 schedule. Royal Caribbean also had cruises originally scheduled to leave from Baltimore on April 4 and 12 rerouted to Norfolk and has two more trips originally scheduled to leave Baltimore on May 25 and 30.

A Carnival cruise ship left Baltimore on March 24 for a seven-night trip and returned to Norfolk, according to the Cruise Maryland Terminal 2024 schedule. Carnival also had cruise ships scheduled March 31; April 7, 21 and 28; and May 5 and 12 that left from Norfolk instead.

“The incident began on March 26 and each cruise scheduled since then to leave from Baltimore has instead left from Norfolk,” Scher said

Norwegian Cruise Line did not have any ships scheduled to depart Baltimore until September.

Cruise terminals require customs and border protections and security, as well as luggage and cleaning services. Scher said the Maryland Departments of Commerce and Labor have instituted financial assistance and worker retention programs for port workers

Stephen Kirkland, executive director of the Norfolk cruise terminal, which boarded around 125,000 passengers in 2023, said the city primarily works with Carnival but originally did not have any cruises scheduled for this spring and summer because of construction on the terminal.

“Demolition on that project wasn’t due to start until June, when we got the calls from Royal Caribbean and Carnival that they needed to reroute, we had an available terminal because of construction,” Kirkland said.

Kirkland said Norfolk still plans to start construction in June.