Port Canaveral is the second busiest cruise port in the world, right after Port Miami, which may not come as any surprise.  Miami has been the birthplace and home for a number of cruise lines for quite some time. Port Canaveral offers travelers unique pre- and post-cruise attractions and activities found nowhere else.  A robust construction plan at the Space Coast embarkation port is paying off too.  Port Canaveral today announced a new record for the Port’s cruise operations. More than 4.5 million cruise passenger movements were logged at the Port in 2017, outpacing numbers set in 2016.

 Port Canaveral is proving to be the Port of choice for more cruise travelers year after year,” said Captain John Murray, Port CEO. “Our focus on providing quality service and commitments we have made to improve and expand our infrastructure ensures our cruise partners can deliver an exceptional customer experience at our Port, which provides increased jobs and business opportunities in our community.

Port Canaveral hosts Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean International, as well as numerous port-of-call vessels from the world’s cruise lines.  Total cruise passengers, which includes multi-day passengers coupled with one-day cruise passengers, totaled 4,520,229 in fiscal year FY2017, up 6.4% from October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017. Multi-day passengers totaled 4,234,545 in FY2017 up 7.1% over the previous year hitting an all-time high number of passengers.

But what about the other ports in the world?  Where do they rank?

Here we go, the whole list:

1. Miami, Florida
2. Port Canaveral, Florida
3. Port Everglades, Florida
4. Puerta Maya, Cozumel, Mexico
5. Shanghai International Port, Shanghai
6. Port Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain
7. Civitavecchia Port near Rome
8. Nassau, the Bahamas
9. Canary Islands (multiple ports)
10. Port of Balearic Islands in Spain (multiple ports)
11. U.S. Virgin Islands (multiple ports)
12. Port of Galveston, Texas
13. Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
14. Port of Southampton, England

 

*Source: Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)