The San Juan Cruise Port is celebrating an important stepping stone in its mission for growth.
Not one, but two cruise ships have just made their debut in Puerto Rico’s capital city in what will be the beginning of a lasting and fruitful relationship.
Ritz-Carlton Ilma, which is a super yacht from the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, made its inaugural call on the popular cruise port on November 14, 2024 – at the end of a 13-night Transatlantic sailing from Lisbon, Portugal.
For the 448-guest vessel, this inaugural visit marks the beginning of its 2024-2025 Caribbean season – during which she will homeport in San Juan.
Indeed, the 790-foot yacht will operate eleven sailings out of San Juan between November 2024 to March 2025 – generating an estimated $1.7 million in revenue for the local economy.
These sailings will feature calls on popular ports like Bridgeton, Barbados; Soufriere, St Lucia Island; Portsmouth, Dominica; Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy; and Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
Just a few days later on November 19, 2024, Sun Princess – the newest addition to the Princess Cruises’ fleet – made her inaugural call on the cruise port.
While she is homeporting in Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida, her debut marks the first of five scheduled visits during the main Caribbean cruising season – which runs annually from December to April when the risk of severe storms is at its lowest.
The 177,882-gross ton ship has already started alternating between week-long voyages to the Western and Eastern Caribbean – while simultaneously operating 14-night sailings that include both of the shorter itineraries.
Each visit from the Sphere-class ship will bring 5,189 passengers and 1,550 crew members to the port – bolstering the local tourism and hospitality industries.
Across all the Princess ships sailing in the Caribbean in the 2025 fiscal year, the brand is expected to bring 122,000 passengers to San Juan with 34 planned ship calls – generating over $1.7 million.
Inaugural Ship Calls Signal Growth
The San Juan Port, which is grouped into two terminals and four cruise ship piers, has been working hard to promote growth and reach – or exceed – its pre-pandemic numbers.
In 2019, San Juan received approximately 1.8 million cruise guests. But as recently as 2023, that number was closer to 1.3 million cruisers.
That said, the debut of Ritz-Carlton Ilma and Sun Princess are a positive sign of growth for both the cruise port and the local economy.
“The inclusion of San Juan in the itineraries of these iconic vessels strengthens our tourism sector and contributes to the Island’s economic growth by diversifying and expanding our luxury travel offerings,” said Carlos Mercado Santiago, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.
Traditional plaque exchange ceremonies were also held to celebrate the inaugural calls for both cruise ships with government representatives and port executives present – during which representatives from Princess Cruises reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering cruise tourism in Puerto Rico.
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The cruise port also recently began construction for a $100 million improvement plan – officially breaking ground on the project on September 25, 2024.
The project – which comes as a result of a 30-year concession contract with a port management firm called Global Ports Holding (GPH) – will include repairs made to Pier 4 and the Pan American Piers, as well as to the existing cruise terminals.
That said, GPH – which operates 32 cruise ports globally – is already planning a second round of financing to create two new cruise port areas.
These would be the Old San Juan District, including Piers 1 and 4 which are mainly for transit calls, and the Homeport District, which would include Piers 11-14 and the Pan American piers.
When all is said and done, GPH estimates that its total investment in improving the San Juan Port could reach $425 million.
