Port Canaveral Nudges PortMiami Out to Become Busiest Cruise Homeport
The rivalry between PortMiami in South Florida and Port Canaveral in Central Florida took a surprising turn with Port Canaveral nudging Miami from its traditional number one ranking in FY 2025. The difference was small between the two ports, just 0.4 percent, but it is a major achievement for Port Canaveral as it continues to see rapid growth in its cruise business.
Port Canaveral topped even its own projections, which had set a target of around 8.4 million passenger movements (counting embarkation and debarkations separately as two movements) for FY 2025. The final number came in at 8,602,047 passengers, a better than 13-percent increase over the prior FY.
It is not the first time Port Canaveral has taken the top honors, as it rebounded in 2022 ahead of PortMiami from the pandemic. The Central Florida seaport, which is close to the theme park attractions in the Orlando area, handled 4.21 million passengers in 2022 compared to just over 4.0 million that passed through Miami. Amazingly, the numbers have doubled again.
Canaveral has traditionally benefitted from ships that do short cruises with turns twice per week, but in recent years has also seen strong growth as a homeport for 7-day cruises. Last summer, it became the home to one of the world’s largest cruise ships, Star of the Seas, which operates 7-day cruises, while its fleet mate, Utopia of the Seas, operates 3- and 4-day cruises from Canaveral.
In March 2025, Port Canaveral set a record with its highest monthly passenger movements. That month, it hosted 925,994 passengers, which was up 16 percent versus March 2024. At the time, port officials said they were on track for 8.4 million passengers for the year, up from 7.6 million in the prior year.
“It wasn’t long ago when we exceeded 500,000 guests in a single month. Now, with numbers like this approaching nearly a million, it’s not just remarkable, it demonstrates the strong demand for sailings from our port. We’ve been predicting it, and we were ready for it,” stated Capt. John Murray, Port Canaveral CEO, in April 2025.
The port moved quickly to establish LNG capabilities and was rewarded with the first LNG-fueled cruise ships in North America. It is now implementing a $912 million five-year capital improvement initiative. The port is expanding two existing terminals and will develop a seventh terminal. Just last week, it received one of Princess Cruises’ largest ships for the first time, and in 2027, Carnival Cruise Line will send its new giant Carnival Festivale to the port alongside the Mardi Gras, while MSC will expand its operations by basing the MSC World Atlantic at the port.
PortMiami was just under 8.6 million passengers as it grew including handling 10 cruise ships in a day (PortMiami)
While the rivalry continues between the ports, it also shows the strong growth in the cruise market, and specifically in Florida. Port Everglades is also seeing strong demand, as is Tampa.
PortMiami reported 4 percent growth in its passenger totals, handling a record 8,564,225 cruise passengers in the just concluded FY between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025. Long known as the Cruise Capital of the World, PortMiami highlights that it will receive 10 first-time cruise ships in this new year, including five newbuilds. It continues the growth for the port, which in the spring saw the opening of the new MSC Terminal (AA), which is billed as the world’s largest cruise terminal. The port has recently handled 10 cruise ships in a single day.
The rivalry will continue as both ports position for continued strong growth. While cruising continues to grow, Florida remains the epicenter of the industry, and in turn, it contributes a key part of Florida's tourist economy.
Philadelphia Starts Construction on Homeport Cruise Terminal
The Port of Philadelphia announced the groundbreaking for the new PhilaPort Cruise Terminal as the city looks to capitalize on the rapid growth in cruise travel. Philadelphia has not had a cruise business since at least 2011, with travelers forced to go to either New York or Baltimore to sail on a cruise.
Norwegian Cruise Line in 2024 announced that it had entered into a new agreement with Philadelphia to seasonally homeport its cruise ship Norwegian Jewel (93,500 gross tons) in the city for cruises to Bermuda and other destinations. They said the new homeport for NCL would provide residents in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region more access to cruising, with NCL committed to run cruises through October 17, 2026.
Regional homeporting is a growing trend in the cruise industry over the past decade of more. Norwegian was an early innovator, positioning ships closer to more people, making it possible to drive to their vacations instead of the traditional fly-cruise market. Smaller cities, ranging from Baltimore and Norfolk a well as Charleston for many years, Boston, Galveston, Tampa, have seen their cruise business develop based on people driving to the port.
Philadelphia’s new terminal is the result of coordinated efforts and partnership among PhilaPort, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and Energy Transfer Marketing and Terminals (ETMT). PhilaPort and ETMT have finalized the agreement of sale of property for the site in Tinicum Township, formerly known as the Hog Island Dock Terminal Facility, clearing the way for its redevelopment. It is a 16-acre site adjacent to Philadelphia International Airport.
PhilaPort will manage all marine-side improvements, while Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings will lead the land-side construction and development of the terminal. Under a seven-year berthing agreement running from April 15, 2026, through March 31, 2033, NCLH’s cruise brands will operate as Philadelphia’s exclusive homeport with an initial commitment of 41 sailings per year.
“This is a unique opportunity, and we are fortunate to have two outstanding partners in Energy Transfer and Norwegian Cruise Line, both of whom see tremendous potential in Philadelphia,” said Jeff Theobald, PhilaPort Executive Director and CEO. “It took a lot of hard work to bring this agreement together, and Energy Transfer and Norwegian Cruise Line were committed every step of the way. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we are ready and excited to welcome cruise passengers this spring.”
The terminal’s inaugural season will also likely benefit as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026, with Philadelphia hosting a wide range of events and tourism experiences.
According to PhilaPort officials, cruise operations at the new terminal are projected to generate 2,185 direct and indirect jobs and approximately $300 million in annual economic output throughout Pennsylvania, supporting labor-intensive services that contribute to regional economic well-being.
New Cruise Company Signs with China Merchant for Eight B-to-B Ships
Ship manager United Waterways announced its plans to expand its unique B-to-B approach into ocean cruising, focusing on the popular expedition and coastal cruising segments. The company, which has been a provider of ship management services, announced earlier this year plans to expand into the ownership of river cruise ships and now says it has booked construction slots with China Merchant for the expedition and coastal ships.
The B-to-B concept calls for the company to build the vessels, but instead of direct marketing, it is seeking partners. It reports strong interest from well-known tour operators and also looks to expand into lifestyle brands. The ships will operate under the name of the partner brands. Using a similar approach, the well-known Lindblad Expeditions is launching its first river cruises in 2026 by partnering with another company, Transcend Cruises, which is using a similar B-to-B business model.
United Waterways first announced earlier this year plans to build 10 river cruise ships. The company reports it found partners within six months, working with prestigious brands. The ships are being built in Europe, and the company says it is working with partners in the United States, Asia, and Europe. The ships, they report, will be the first multi-fuel platform and will be ready to comply with the European Union’s emerging regulations.
Based on the strong partner response to the river cruise segment, United Waterways believes there is a similar opportunity in the expedition and coastal cruising segments. It booked construction slots for a total of eight ships, four for coastal and four for expedition, with China Merchant Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Shipyard. United Waterways is launching a new brand, Ocean Advice, for these ships, and says it believes there will be crossover opportunities with its river partners. It says three of the eight vessels have already been reserved, and it expects to book all the ships within the next 12 months.
It notes that China Merchant has strong experience in the expedition and small cruise ship segment. The shipyard built seven 200-passenger expedition ships for SunStone, which are chartered to major brands. The last of the ships was recently delivered. China Merchant had said it would be deemphasizing the small cruise ships based on strong demand from other segments.
United Waterways reports it has two design concepts, designed in partnership with the well-known Tillberg Design of Sweden. For the expedition market, the ships will have a capacity of 186 passengers. For coastal cruising, the ships will have a capacity of 260 passengers.
Both of the ship classes are focused on providing cozy spaces and exploiting a destination focus. The size will permit the ships to reach out of the way and smaller destinations unavailable to bigger ships. Working with China Merchant, they will also incorporate China’s developments in electrification to make the ships hybrids.
As part of its agreement with China Merchant, the company reports it has already exercised the first slot, signing a contract for an expedition ship due for delivery in 2028. It expects the first coastal ship in 2029.
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