Ocean Passenger Vessels: Migrating South for the Winter

BTS Products;BTS Portshttps://doi.org/10.21949/15015852010PDFResearch PaperChambers, MatthewUnited States. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Transportation StatisticsUnited States. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Transportation StatisticsUnited StatesPassenger shipsSeasonsTables (Data)Trip tablesTrip matricesIn response to consumer demand, the passenger vessels that operate from seaports along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts alternate between north and south. Passenger vessels that sail out of ports such as New York, Baltimore and Seattle in the summer, lift anchor and steam for departure ports such as Miami, Tampa and Los Angeles, or overseas markets during the cold winter months. This phenomenon has grown in recent years as cruise lines increased the number of "close-to-home" departure ports1 in the north.123