World's busiest cruise ports are in Florida

World’s busiest cruise ports are in Florida

The Caribbean is the top cruise destination in the world. So it's no wonder that Florida's three ports see more passengers than any others.

By Mary Forgione

July 25, 2017 6:40 AM PT

If you are one of the 25 million passengers expected to take a cruise this year, chances are your travels may take you to Florida. Port Miami welcomed 4.8 million passengers last year, making it the busiest port in the world.

Port Canaveral in Cape Canaveral and Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale were the second and third busiest, with combined traffic of more than 7.5 million passengers. It’s no surprise, given that the Caribbean is the top cruise destination in the world.

For the record:

10:54 p.m. May 11, 2019An earlier version of this post said Port Everglades was the second busiest port in the world and Port Canaveral was third busiest. Updated passenger statistics show Port Canaveral is the second busiest port.

Numbers may grow, too, as more lines schedule more cruises to Cuba. Norwegian Cruise Line, for example, began cruises from Miami to Cuba in May. It plans to send a second cruise ship to Port Canaveral next year for trips to the island nation.

After Florida, Cruise Industry News identified these as the world’s busiest cruise ports, based on 2016 figures:

Puerta Maya, Cozumel, Mexico; 3.6 million passengers

Shanghai International Port, Shanghai; 2.8 million passengers

Port Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain; 2.6 million passengers

Civitavecchia Port near Rome; 2.3 million passengers

Nassau, the Bahamas, 2 million passengers

Canary Islands (multiple ports); 1.9 million passengers

Port of Balearic Islands in Spain (multiple ports); 1.9 million

U.S. Virgin Islands (multiple ports); 1.7 million

Port of Galveston, Texas; 1.7 million

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; 1.7 million

Port of Southampton, England; 1.7 million