PortMiami: Cruise Capital of the World

Friday, 14 Mar, 2025 0

Last year, PortMiami consolidated its status as Cruise Capital of the World with a record breaking year for cruise passenger traffic.

PortMiami just recently set a new milestone, handling ten cruise ships simultaneously on February 8, 2025.

Greater Miami & Miami Beach is easily accessible to all through a variety of convenient travel options, including Tri-Rail, Brightline, Metrorail, ride-sharing services, taxis, and car.

This means passengers eager to explore can easily make the most of Miami before or after a voyage, be it a few hours or a few days.

What’s new at PortMiami

Since the pandemic, the port has opened three new cruise terminals: Norwegian Cruise Line’s Cruise Terminal B, the Pearl of Miami; Carnival Corporation’s Cruise Terminal F; and Virgin Voyages’ Cruise Terminal V, the Palm Grove.

A big historic milestone for the port was the June 17, 2024 launch of the most transformative project in PortMiami’s history, shore power. Shore power allows cruise ships to turn off their engines and plug into landside electrical power while docked, resulting in reduced emissions and noise.

Miami-Dade County, Carnival Corporation & plc, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Group, Virgin Voyages, and Florida Power & Light Company have joined a partnership, making PortMiami the first major cruise port on the U.S. eastern seaboard that offers shore power capability at five cruise berths.

What’s coming in 2025?

MSC Cruises’ new Cruise Terminal AA will open this cruise season. Once completed, it will be the largest cruise terminal in the world.

On the west end of the port, construction will begin on the new Cruise Terminal G for Royal Caribbean International in summer 2025 (expected to open in late 2027).

PortMiami and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) announced this month that the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners has approved for NCLH to assume responsibility for the operations and maintenance of the existing Cruise Terminal B Garage, as well as the development of a new Multipurpose Parking Facility at PortMiami.

NCLH has also committed to increase its guaranteed passenger movements at PortMiami from an approximately 50 million to nearly 75 million passengers during the initial 30-year term of this agreement.

This is an increase of 25 million passengers over its existing commitment.

New ships homeporting in Miami

Among the new lineup of ships which will begin departing from PortMiami in 2025 are:

MSC Cruises’ World America (April 2025)

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Aqua (April 2025)

Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth (September 2025)

Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady (October 2025)

Oceania’s Allura (November 2025)

LGBTQ+ friendly cruising

Greater Miami & Miami Beach is the perfect starting point for LGBTQ+ travelers with its beaches and welcoming atmosphere. There is also a wide range of LGBTQ+ cruises setting sail from PortMiami in 2025 including:

MSC Seaside’s Pied Piper Cruises (March 2025)

Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas (April 2025)

Virgin Voyages’ Dominican Daze (April 2025)

Celebrity Cruises’ Pride Month at Sea (June 2025)

PortMiami achieved another record-breaking year with 8.2 million travelers in Fiscal Year 2024 (October 1, 2023-September 30, 2024).

This represented a 12.79% increase in cruise passenger totals.

The Port is among Miami-Dade County’s largest economic engines contributing $61 billion annually to the economy. It supports more than 340,000 jobs

TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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