Mayor announces plans to bring cruise line back to port city

In his tourism announcement, he laid out the reasons why bringing the cruise industry back to Mobile would benefit the region. AL.com reports that Carnival’s departure left Mobile with an empty terminal costing taxpayers $1.8 million annually in debt.

Specifics of the deal will be worked out when the cruise line visits the city sometime this month.

At the time, Carnival cited prices that were lower than achieved at other ports for the pullout.

“Carnival Cruise Line can confirm that we met with the mayor of Mobile yesterday in Miami”. Carnival also has Gulf Coast cruises that depart from Galveston, New Orleans and Tampa.

Mayor Stimpson announced the agreement reached with Carnival Cruise Lines on Thursday afternoon in a press conference upon his arrival back in Alabama. “If we all work together, Mobile will become one of America’s top travel destinations for global travelers”.

For now, many are hoping that the initiative means finally using the cruise ship terminal which has seen far more proms and charity events than ship traffic, with the exception of a few Carnival mishaps.

Kelsey Sunderman, the sales manager at the Mobile Hampton Inn & Suites, told local station WKRG: “The [former Carnival] cruise ship really did affect all of our budgets, and we’re really looking forward to having it back”.