It’s officially that time in the holiday season where we start reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to the next – and the world’s second busiest cruise port is no exception.
As the fiscal year ended on September 30, 2024, the leadership team at Florida’s Port Canaveral have now had a chance to review the numbers for 2024 – and ultimately found increased revenue in all business sectors.
In his annual “State of the Port” address on November 20, 2024, Canaveral Port Authority CEO Capt. John Murray confirmed that the port’s streak of record-breaking growth has indeed continued for another year – and much of the success can be attributed to cruise tourism.
During the 2024 fiscal year, the Orlando-based port earned $191 million in revenue – with cruise operations accounting for $156 million – or around 81% – of the total.
“Cruise continues to be a significant segment of our business portfolio with some of the newest and largest ships in the world based at Port Canaveral. This speaks volumes to the confidence our cruise partners have in our ability to consistently deliver exceptional results for their guests,” Capt. Murray stated.
Throughout the year, Port Canaveral welcomed 7.6 million passengers across 13 homeported ships and 911 cruise ship calls.
This is an approximate 12% increase on the 6.8 million cruise guests welcomed by the port in 2023 – which was another record-breaking number at the time – and even more significantly ahead of the just over 4 million passengers that passed through Port Canaveral’s six cruise terminals in 2022.
Over the past year, the port also added new parking facilities – including an 8-story garage and a 6-story garage – and upgraded existing parking processing systems.
A total of 914,000 vehicles took advantage of the now more convenient parking, paying a daily rate of $17 plus tax – which certainly adds up with the number of cars using the garages.
Growth Expected to Continue in 2025
Port Canaveral is already looking ahead to the future, and is anticipating an even busier and more profitable year in 2025.
The port’s leadership team is projecting annual revenues to grow to $211 million from $191 million – which will largely be helped along by growing cruise operations.
Indeed, the port is anticipating a record-breaking 8.4 million passengers and a greater number of ship calls – 1,030 to be exact – in the new fiscal year.
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Additionally, the number of cruise ships that will homeport in the popular port is jumping up from 13 to 16 in the 2025 fiscal year – and includes some of the newest and most exciting ships on the high seas.
Disney Cruise Line, for example, chose Port Canaveral as the first homeport for Disney Treasure – and she just made her debut in Florida on November 12, 2024.
When she officially enters service on December 21, 2024, Disney’s newest addition will use the port as her base as she operates round-trip, 7-night sailings throughout the Eastern and Western Caribbean.
Similarly, Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas, which is currently under construction at the Meyer Turku Shipyard in Turku, Finland, will begin her career at Port Canaveral when she enters service in August of 2025.
Like Disney Treasure, Royal Caribbean’s new Icon-class vessel will alternate between week-long sailings to the Western and Eastern Caribbean – and will bring up to 5,610 guests to the port with every voyage.
Last but not least, Princess Cruises and Celebrity Cruises will each be taking advantage of Port Canaveral’s homeporting services for the first time ever.
Caribbean Princess will arrive at her new homeport at the end of November 2024 – arriving just a few days before Celebrity Equinox is expected to dock on December 3, 2024.
