San Diego Opens Largest Cruise Season in More Than 15 Years
Disney is deploying two ships from San Diego for the first time under a port agreement running through at least 2031, with more than one million passengers expected over the term.
The Port of San Diego opened its largest cruise season in more than 15 years on Monday, with 183 ship calls scheduled during 2026-27 and more than 700,000 passengers expected. Calls are up 68% from 109 last season, driven by new Royal Caribbean homeport operations and expanded Disney Cruise Line service.
Passenger volume is projected to rise from about 389,000 last season, the port’s largest annual increase in 16 years. The forecast remains below the late-2000s peak, when San Diego approached 1 million cruise passengers.
Homeport calls drive the increase
About 80% of this season’s calls will begin or end in San Diego. Renee Rose, the Port of San Diego’s maritime commercial manager, said passengers on those sailings often add hotel stays, restaurant visits and shopping before or after their cruises.
“Those home ports tend to have more of an impact,” Rose said.
Royal Caribbean is scheduled to make 47 calls carrying an estimated 177,660 passengers. The line had previously been an occasional caller in San Diego, but its current schedule surpasses Holland America Line, the port’s longtime cruise customer and previously its largest cruise line client.
Disney is deploying two ships from San Diego for the first time, including Disney Magic as the second vessel. Its agreement with the port runs through at least 2031 and is expected to approximately double Disney’s San Diego departures, carrying more than 1 million passengers over the term. It is the port’s first cruise agreement in more than 20 years to include a minimum annual guarantee.
Other scheduled operators include Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line in its second homeport season, MSC Cruises, Virgin Voyages, Silversea Cruises and Viking. The season began with Ruby Princess and a seven-day Classic California Coast itinerary.
“We cannot wait to welcome more than 700,000 cruise passengers who will visit San Diego this year,” Port of San Diego Vice Chair Michael Zucchet said. “The year-over-year growth shows that passengers and cruise lines come to San Diego for our beautiful waterfront, strategic location on the West Coast and our proximity to Baja Mexico.”
The port previously anticipated as many as 780,000 passengers for the season but reduced its estimate to more than 700,000 after adopting more conservative passenger-count assumptions for budgeting.
Fall and winter on the waterfront
San Diego’s cruise traffic is handled at the B Street Cruise Ship Terminal and the Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, both on the downtown waterfront. San Diego ranks behind Long Beach and Los Angeles among California cruise ports and is the closest West Coast cruise port to Mexico. The port estimates that the cruise sector supports more than 2,000 tourism and maritime jobs in the region.
“One of the great things about our cruise season is that it picks up as the traditional travel season, the summer season, winds down,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said. He added that the timing supports hotels, restaurants and attractions during the fall and winter.
At least one vessel is expected in port on nearly every day of October. The season is scheduled to conclude May 24.
Princess is planning a further increase for 2027-28, raising its San Diego calls from six this season to 17. Most of those additional visits will be calls on cruises originating elsewhere.
