Lately there have been several ports making news with the first being Bar Harbor in Maine. Bar Harbor is a popular port of call for voyages that include New England and Canada with its season running from April to November. However, in 2022, a law went into effect placing a cap on the number of cruise passengers permitted to disembark daily.
The November election gave the residents of Bar Harbor the opportunity to repeal the 2022 law. Town officials were proposing the daily limit be raised from 1,000 guests to 3,200 guests daily, still slightly less than the original cap of 3,500 guests daily.
Unfortunately, the measure did not pass by a very narrow margin. The results indicated that 1,713 voters were in favor of increasing the number of cruise passengers allowed and a mere 63 more voters, 1,776, opposed the measure.
The port has not experienced a sharp decline in cruise ship visits yet since ships scheduled to call before the new law went into effect in 2022 were permitted to keep those itineraries.
Moving on down the East Coast, Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida does not have a cruise passenger cap and has set a new record during the 2024 fiscal year. Up 39% from fiscal year 2023, the port has welcomed over 4 million guests during 2024. The previous record of 3,880,033 passengers was set in 2014. The new record of 4,010,919 passengers is an increase of 3.3% from the previous record.
CEO and Port Director Joseph Morris said, “We expected to do well with the addition of Disney Cruise Line to our fleet and a mix of short and week-long cruises throughout the summer. As the year progressed, it became evident that a near-record 4 million guests was within reach. Cruising is in high demand, and our cruise line partners are poised for greater gains with new itineraries and a variety of sailing dates.”
The 2024 record likely will not last as the port will be hosting larger ships and shorter sailings and is projecting 4.4 million passengers during 2025. Port Everglades is home to Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess, the cruise line’s largest new build, as well as ships belonging to Silversea Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, and more.
Just a little further south, the Cruise Capital of the World is welcoming all the cruise passengers. PortMiami has reported a record-breaking 8,233,056 cruise passengers from October 2023 to September 2024. This is a 13% increase from the previous fiscal year.
Hydi Webb, director and CEO of PortMiami said, “I am grateful to our cruise lines for their ongoing partnership and this record-breaking year. I want to thank Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the Board of County Commissioners and our cruise partners for their unwavering support to ensure PortMiami is the departure choice for cruise passengers.”
Every major cruise line sails from PortMiami including Royal Caribbean which homeports the largest cruise ship in the world–Icon of the Seas–there. Along with Royal Caribbean Group, Carnival Corporation, Norwegian Cruise Line, Virgin Voyages and MSC Cruises all have dedicated cruise terminals at PortMiami. Additionally, MSC Cruises is constructing a new terminal that will debut in April 2025 as the largest terminal in the world and Royal Caribbean will begin construction on a new terminal in the summer of 2025.