PortMiami Sets Cruise Record With 10 Million Passenger Movements

PortMiami reached 10 million cruise passenger movements on September 14, 2026, setting an annual record with more than two weeks left in its fiscal year. The total is already nearly 17% above the port’s previous full-year high.

The increase follows roughly 4% growth in fiscal 2025, when traffic rose to about 8.56 million movements from 8.23 million a year earlier. Because embarkations and disembarkations are counted separately, the current tally equates to approximately 5 million cruise passengers.

The final fiscal 2026 passenger count will not be known until after September 30. PortMiami has not yet published a passenger forecast for fiscal 2027.

Miami’s total puts it back ahead of Port Canaveral, which handled around 8.6 million passenger movements in fiscal 2025 and projected about 9 million for the current year. Port Canaveral had taken the top position among cruise homeports last year.

PortMiami attributed its growth to demand for Miami-based sailings, expanded cruise line offerings and investment in passenger terminals. Recently completed and upgraded facilities can accommodate larger ships and are designed to improve passenger flow during embarkation and disembarkation.

“I’m immensely proud of our team and cruise and port partners, whose collaborative efforts made this achievement possible,” said Jonathan Daniels, PortMiami’s port director and chief executive officer.

New ships and terminal investment

The 2025-26 season brought 10 additional ships to Miami between October 2025 and May 2026. Newbuild arrivals included Windstar Cruises’ Star Seeker and Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady.

Norwegian Luna debuted at the port in March 2026 from Terminal B, which opened in 2021 following a major redevelopment. Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, MSC Cruises’ MSC Grandiosa and Oceania Cruises’ Allura were also among the ships added to Miami’s lineup during the season.

PortMiami now has 10 operating passenger cruise terminals. MSC Cruises’ Terminal AA opened in April 2025 at the eastern end of the port, with capacity to serve three ships simultaneously and process as many as 36,000 passengers daily.

Both Miami and Port Canaveral regularly handle vessels carrying at least 6,000 passengers and serve as homeports for ships of 225,000 gross tons or more.

Spending beyond the terminals

Port officials said cruise traffic generates business beyond the terminals through passengers’ hotel stays, restaurant visits, entertainment spending and local transportation, and supports employment across hospitality, retail, maritime services and shore-excursion businesses.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava described the port as “a global gateway and a driver of job creation, tourism and local business growth.”

For PortMiami overall, officials estimate an annual contribution of about $61 billion to the local economy and more than 340,000 jobs supported. Those figures describe the port’s broader economic contribution, not spending attributable solely to this year’s cruise passengers.

Terminal G to add capacity

Further capacity is under construction at Cruise Terminal G, a $345 million project on which Miami-Dade County and Royal Caribbean Group broke ground in January. The terminal is being designed to accommodate up to 7,000 passengers and ships including Royal Caribbean’s Icon class.

The project includes a multilevel parking garage, an intermodal facility and passenger-processing technology, with LEED certification planned. Terminal G is scheduled for completion in late 2027.

See cruises departing Miami on Cruise Lookup.