Port Canaveral Overtakes Miami As World's Busiest Cruise Port In 2022

Port Canaveral, for the first time, emerged as the busiest cruise port in the world in 2022 with its 4,072,396 multi-day passengers, topping 4,022,544 in Port Miami.

The story was cited initially by Florida Ports Council numbers which have about 3,988,094 multi-day passengers listed for PortMiami. However, Hydi Webb, the Director/CEO, mentioned to Seatrade Cruise News that in-transit figures of Miami were not included, so with those, the total came up to 4,022,544.

Port Everglades 1.6 million

Following the top two, Port Everglades had 1,621,216 multi-day guests.

Other Florida cruise ports

Other ports of Florida with cruise business include Port Tampa Bay, with 418,200 guests back in 2022; Port of Key West, with 198,411; Port of Palm Beach (with 188,235); and JAXPORT, with 90,241. The figures are per Florida Ports Council.

The Council’s pre-pandemic statistics reflect Florida’s embarkations had increased by 41% between 2010 and 2019, registering a compound annual growth rate of about 3.9%. In

In 2019, Florida ports reportedly accounted for 60.1% of US cruise guest embarkations.

As the industry progressed with its COVID-19 recovery in 2022, 41% lesser guests were carried than back in 2019, the Florida Ports Council mentioned while observing the state ports-led US cruising recovery.

Florida ports are expected to reach their 2019 passenger levels this year.

2027 estimates

The Florida Ports Council has listed the 2027 projections for the cruise ports. The figures cover single-day guests for ports that extend day-cruise operations.

PortMiami estimates suggest 8.4 million in 2027.

For Canaveral, last year’s 4,210,260 (adding 137,864 single-day passengers) to a total (multi-day and single-day passengers) of 6,434,000 in 2027.

And Port Everglades, from last year’s 1,717,908 passengers (adding 96,692 single-day passengers) to 2027 total (multi-day and single-day) would hit 5,176,280.

References: Cruise Hive, Seatrade Cruise