Earlier this month at Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami, I had the opportunity to sit down with Capt. John Murray, CEO of Port Canaveral. We talked about the port’s growth, future, and changes that were recently made to give guests the best possible experience as they start or end their cruise.
Port Canaveral has grown over the past few years to be one of the top two busiest cruise ports in the country. They keep seesawing back and forth with PortMiami as the busiest, even though they now have four less berths than Miami.
How has Port Canaveral grown so much over the past 10-15 years? Here is a look at why and reasons you should consider taking a cruise from the port.
New Cruise Ships
A decade ago, if you wanted to sail on the newest cruise ships, you had to head to South Florida. That all changed in 2021 when Carnival Cruise Line began to homeport their first Excel class ship, Mardi Gras, at Port Canaveral.
Last year, Royal Caribbean based a brand new ship there, Utopia of the Seas. This coming August, the cruise line’s newest and largest ship, Star of the Seas, will homeport at Port Canaveral sailing week long cruises to the Caribbean.
Other new ships that are sailing from the port this year are Norwegian Aqua and Disney Treasure.
In 2027, two new cruise ships will sail from Port Canaveral. MSC Cruises recently announced that MSC World Atlantic will debut from the port in 2027.
Carnival Festivale will also sail from the port when the ship debuts in 2027. Mardi Gras will move to three- and four-night cruises that depart every Monday and Friday from Port Canaveral.
“We don’t want to be less bad than other ports, we want to be the best” – Capt. Murray
Convenience/Smooth Experience
Since there are no airports within 40 miles of Port Canaveral, it’s mainly a driving port. If are are flying into MCO, were are several shuttle companies that connect it with the cruise port.
85% of all passengers who take a cruise from Port Canaveral drive to the port. The port opened two new parking garages this past year that can accommodate an additional 3,000 cars to park.
The port is just off of I-95 and offers easy in, easy out access. Because they are the first major cruise port on the drive south in Florida, you don’t have to deal with traffic like you do at ports in South Florida.
The port made several operational changes in the past year to elevate the experience at their six cruise terminals. This helps create a smoother experience for guests who are disembarking or embarking on their cruise.
They also now have teams onsite to fix anything that may go wrong during disembarkation and embarkation.
Capt. John Murray said the following:
“A cruise can be destroyed with bad service from the port on the front end or back end. Last thing you want is for someone to have a great trip, get off the ship, and get totally frustrated getting out of the port. We look at ourselves being an extension of that. We don’t want them to have a bad experience at the port.”
Options
Seven major cruise lines offer cruises from Port Canaveral, giving you more options than ever before. They are:
- Carnival Cruise Line
- Celebrity Cruises
- Disney Cruise Line
- MSC Cruises
- Norwegian Cruise Line
- Princess Cruises
- Royal Caribbean
Future of Port Canaveral
Port Canaveral just set their monthly record for cruise guests in March with 925,994 guests. This is 16% higher than last March. They are expecting 8.4 million passenger movements this year, up from 7.6 million in 2024.
Over the next decade, the port is eyeing two locations to build new cruise terminals. One is between Terminal 1 (Royal Caribbean) and Terminal 3 (Carnival Cruise Line). Terminal 2 is currently used by Victory Casino Cruises and their lease is up in early 2030s.
The port is currently planning on relocating the casino ship when their lease is up and build a new terminal at that location for large cruise ships.
Norwegian Cruise Line is also planning on adding more cruises from Port Canaveral in the future.