Top 10 Busiest US Cruise Homeports

Here is Cruise Hive’s list of the top 10 busiest cruise homeports based on cruise guest traffic, including passengers on home-ported ships plus port call visitors. We’ll keep updating the list with the latest numbers reported by the cruise ports.

1. PortMiami (Florida)

The sprawling PortMiami, with its cruise terminals and a major cargo facility spread across 518 acres, welcomed 8,233,056 million cruise passengers in its 2024 fiscal year from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.

The cruise port maintains its No. 1 spot as the cruise capital of the world and continues to grow. Passenger transits through the port jumped by nearly 13% from 2023’s 7,299,294 million.

Virtually all of the major cruise lines have a presence at PortMiami, particularly during winter seasons when Caribbean cruising is at its peak. The port, which opened in 1960 and is located in Biscayne Bay, is a leader in shore power development and opened its 10th cruise terminal in 2025.

The new 492,000-square-foot MSC Miami Cruise Terminal can accommodate three ships at a time and process up to 36,000 cruise guests per day. The terminal opened in April 2025 and is the largest passenger cruise terminal in North America.

• Name: PortMiami
• State: Florida
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 8,233,056
• Number of cruise terminals: 10
• Address: 1015 North America Way, Miami

2. Port Canaveral (Florida)

Florida’s Port Canaveral is the second-busiest cruise port in the US based on passenger transits. In 2024, the port welcomed 7.6 million cruise guests, a 12% hike from the previous year.

Looking ahead, the port expects to reach 8.4 million guest transits in 2025, when it will have 16 ships homeporting and more than 1,000 ship calls.

All of the major cruise lines operate from Port Canaveral, and the facility holds the record for having the highest number of ships calling. That is likely due to its proximity to the theme parks of Orlando.

Opened in 1953, Port Canaveral became the first liquified natural gas (LNG) port in the US in 2021, an important milestone since many new ships are being constructed to use the environmentally friendly fuel and existing ships are being upgraded to use it.

• Name: Port Canaveral
• State: Florida
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 7.6 million
• Number of cruise terminals: 7
• Address: 9245 Charles Rowland Drive Cape Canaveral

3. Port Everglades (Florida)

Port Everglades is located in Fort Lauderdale, the South Florida destination synonymous with spring break fun. The port retains its place as the third-busiest in the US, with 4,010,919 cruise passengers transiting in 2024.

The number reflects a substantial 39% increase compared to 2023. The port received 889 ship calls in 2024, including 241 from Balearia’s Caribbean ferry.

Port Everglades hosts year-round cruise ships from Disney Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean. The port is on track to install shore power technology later this decade.

The port, which opened in 1928 under the name Bay Mable Harbor, is close to two major airports; it is three miles from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport and 25 miles from Miami International Airport.

• Name: Port Everglades
• State: Florida
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 4,010,919
• Number of cruise terminals: 8
• Address: 1850 Eller Drive, Fort Lauderdale

4. Port of Galveston (Texas)

The Port of Galveston/Galveston Wharves has a long and interesting history. It was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico, when Texas was still part of Mexico.

Located on Galveston Island at the northwestern edge of the Gulf of Mexico, the facility is a major drive-to port for cruisers hailing from the Southwest and from Gulf Coast cities.

Its 2024 cruise guest transits totaled 3.4 million. Cruise ships departing from Galveston primarily sail Western Caribbean itineraries, but some cruise lines offer Eastern Caribbean voyages as well.

Galveston port will celebrate the opening of Cruise Terminal 16, its fourth, in November 2025 as it welcomes MSC Cruises’ 170,400-gross ton MSC Seascape to her new Galveston home. The terminal also will serve ships in the cruise brands owned by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

The new $156 million terminal is being built at Galveston Wharves Pier 16, a 160,000-square-foot space that formerly held cargo operations. The terminal will include a seven-story parking garage.

The port in 2025 the port expects to handle more than 400 cruise ship sailings.

• Name: Port of Galveston
• State: Texas
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 3.4 million
• Number of cruise terminals: 3
• Address: 123 Rosenberg Avenue, Galveston

5. Port of Seattle (Washington)

The Port of Seattle, circa 1911, has two cruise terminals that together accommodated 1.75 million cruise guests in 2024, making it the fifth-busiest cruise port in the country.

The Washington State port’s claim to fame is its proximity to Alaska, and several of the major cruise lines routinely embark their Alaska cruise guests in Seattle starting each May, as they gear up for the busy summer season.

The port’s main competitor for the summer windfall of cruise ships is Vancouver, British Columbia, located less than 150 miles north of Seattle and, therefore, even closer to the pristine cruising grounds of the Last Frontier State.

The Seattle port is situated in protected Elliott Bay and is home to the Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91 and Bell Street Terminal at Pier 66.

The port is a leader in shore power technology, and thanks to a $44 million investment, all three of the port’s cruise berths are equipped with shore power plug-in infrastructure. Starting in 2027, the port requires that all homeporting cruise ships utilize the local power grid in an effort to substantially reduce emissions.

• Name: Port of Seattle
• State: Washington
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 1.75 million
• Number of cruise terminals: 2
• Address: Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91, 2001 West Garfield Street, Seattle, and Bell Street Terminal at Pier 66, 2225 Alaskan Way South, Seattle

6. Port of San Juan (Puerto Rico)

San Juan, Puerto Rico, a US territory located northwest of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean Sea, is a prime embarkation port for ships heading to the Southern Caribbean.

The San Juan Cruise Port has two cruise terminals accommodating four ships, while the nearby Pan American Pier has two terminals that can dock two ships.

These facilities help make the port, which opened in 1970, among the busiest in the Caribbean and the sixth-busiest in the US. The two facilities together welcomed 1.4 million cruise guests in 2024, including from home-ported ships and those calling at the popular port.

The total reflects a healthy 10% hike compared to the previous year.

Since mid-2022 the port has been managed by Global Ports Holding, which has invested in a major modernization project of the Pan American pier. The cruise port’s Pier 3 West remains under repair, following an incident in April 2024 that saw MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia collide with a berthing dolphin.

The accident was a setback for the port, since Pier 3 West is the only pier able to host Royal Caribbean’s largest ships.

• Name: Port of San Juan
• State: US Territory of Puerto Rico
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 1.4 million
• Number of cruise terminals: 2
• Address: Pan American Pier 1 East, Calle Lindbergh, San Juan; Pan American Pier 1 West, Calle Tadeo Rivera, San Juan

7. Port of New Orleans (Louisiana)

The Port of New Orleans is situated on the Mississippi River near the Gulf of Mexico, making it a popular embarkation port for ocean cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, and for river ships that ply the Mississippi.

There has been a deepwater port in that location since the US bought the territory from France in 1803, but it wasn’t until 1984 that the first cruise terminal was developed. In 2024, the facility announced a record-breaking year with more than 1.2 million cruise passenger movements.

All major cruise lines sail from New Orleans, an important drive-to port for cruisers living in the Southern US. The port, which has a substantial cargo operation, has two cruise terminals, at Erato Street and Julia Street. Cruise guests can easily access the historic French Quarter and other attractions from either terminal.

Carnival Cruise Line in particular has had a longstanding relationship with the destination. In May 2024, the cruise line marked 30 years of year-round service from the Big Easy. It celebrated another milestone in October 2024, when it welcomed its 7 millionth guest embarking one of its ships at the port.

• Name: Port of New Orleans
• State: Louisiana
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 1.2 million
• Number of cruise terminals: 2
• Address: 1350 Port of New Orleans Place, New Orleans

8. Port of Los Angeles (California)

The Port of Los Angeles ranks No. 8 on the busiest cruise port list, with 1.1 million cruise guests moving through the facility’s World Cruise Center in 2024. It also is a major cargo port serving the US West Coast.

The cruise port, with two cruise ship berths and two terminal buildings comprising the cruise center, is a homeport for cruise lines operating voyages to the Mexican Riviera, through the Panama Canal, to Hawaii and Alaska, and along the California coast.

Roughly a half-hour drive from downtown Los Angeles, the port was founded in 1907 but had been used as a trading and cargo port since the early 19th century. A bid to expand its cruise facilities surfaced several years ago but was sidelined by the pandemic.

In 2024, the port issued a request for proposals to redevelop the World Cruise Center, which currently has two cruise berths, two terminal buildings, and a baggage handling structure, and to build a new Outer Harbor Cruise Terminal. The project is pending.

• Name: Port of Los Angeles
• State: California
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 1.1 million
• Number of cruise terminals: 2
• Address: 100 Swinford Street, San Pedro

9. Port Tampa Bay (Florida)

On Florida’s west coast on the Gulf of Mexico, Port Tampa Bay handled 1.1 million cruise passenger transits through its three cruise terminals, Terminal 2, Terminal 3, and Terminal 6, all located a short drive from Tampa International Airport.

Essentially tied with the Port of Los Angeles, we’re listing Tampa Bay as the ninth-busiest US cruise port. It offers easy access to the Eastern and Western Caribbean, and on the shoreside, to Orlando, Florida’s theme park capital.

Cruise guests arriving at the Tampa port will find a major cargo and container operation, as well as a thriving shipbuilding and repair business. The port opened in 1924 and today attracts the industry’s major cruise lines for home-porting as well as port calls.

The port also takes steps to provide services to cruise ship crew members. Early in 2023, it opened a Seafarers Center at Terminal 3, offering support to international crew visiting the port.

• Name: Port Tampa Bay
• State: Florida
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 1.1 million
• Number of cruise terminals: 3
• Address: 1101 Channelside Drive, Tampa

10. Cape Liberty Cruise Port (New Jersey)

Cape Liberty Cruise Port, in Bayonne, New Jersey, has a storied past. It started out as a federal government site that distributed military supplies during World War II.

The facility was eventually turned over to local authorities in Bayonne, who in turn entered into a partnership with Royal Caribbean in 2004.

An agreement between the town and the cruise line led to the construction of a cruise terminal, and Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas became the first cruise ship to sail from the port.

Today it is among the busiest cruise ports in the country, welcoming about 600,000 cruise guests to Bayonne Harbor. In 2025, the port will receive roughly 80 ship visits.

Its location about 10 miles from Manhattan makes it a convenient embarkation port for cruisers living in the tri-state metro area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, which together are home to some 24 million people.

The port’s three terminals support operations for the major cruise lines, which offer itineraries to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, the Eastern Seaboard, plus seasonal cruises to Canada/New England.

• Name: Cape Liberty Cruise Port
• State: New Jersey
• Annual Cruise Passengers: 600,000
• Number of cruise terminals: 3
• Address: 4 Port Terminal Boulevard, Bayonne