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Florida cruise ports: How many cruise ports are in Florida, what are they and which lines sail from them?

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If you’re new to cruising and looking to book a sailing, it’s likely you’ve considered a voyage from Florida — the gateway to most Caribbean and Bahamas destinations. Because the Sunshine State is the cruise capital of the world, it has a head-spinning number of ports for newbies to consider.

Does Fort Lauderdale have a cruise port? What is Port Canaveral? And which Florida cruise ports are closest to an airport? Here’s a guide to help you find those answers and more.

How many cruise ports are in Florida?

There are seven Florida cruise ports:

Of those seven, the first six serve as departure ports and home bases for many vessels from popular lines. In cruise lingo, the ports where ships begin and end their sailings are known as home ports. Some ships will be based in these Florida ports year-round or seasonally. Other ships will depart from Florida ports on one-off voyages without being based there.

Unlike the other ports on the list, Key West does not serve as a starting or ending point for cruises. It is, instead, a port of call — a place that ships visit for a day.

The first three ports are responsible for the majority of the world’s cruise ship departures; you can read more about them below.

Which Florida cruise port is the biggest?

Five cruise ships lined up in Miami
Ships docked in Miami. BARRY WINIKER/GETTY IMAGES

Of the big three Florida cruise ports, Miami was the busiest at the time of publication, followed by Port Canaveral (which is about an hour’s drive from Orlando) and Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades. The titles of “largest” and “busiest” change occasionally as new cruise ship berths are built and terminals are expanded.

Miami welcomed more than 8.2 million cruisers in 2024 via 11 cruise terminals. Port Canaveral saw 7.6 million passengers come through its seven terminals in 2024, and about 4 million passengers transited through Port Everglades’ eight terminals.

Where is Miami cruise port?

PortMiami’s terminals are located on Dodge Island, which runs parallel to the MacArthur Causeway in Miami. Most of the terminals are located on Cruise Way on the island. The port is roughly 8 miles — less than 15 minutes — from Miami International Airport (MIA).

Where is Port Canaveral?

Locals standing on the shoreline looking at a large cruise ship that's docked
Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras arrives in Port Canaveral. PAUL HENNESSY/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES

Port Canaveral is positioned in Cape Canaveral, 45 miles east of Orlando, making it an ideal jumping-off point for Orlando’s theme parks, as well as Kennedy Space Center. It’s located on a peninsula accessible from exits 54A and 54B off of State Route A1A, Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway. Although some smaller airports offer service to the area, most passengers fly into Orlando International Airport (MCO), about 45 minutes from the port.

Where is Port Everglades?

Fort Lauderdale’s cruise port is accessible via Interstate 595 East. Of Florida’s three largest cruise ports, Port Everglades is the one closest to a major airport. It’s only about 3 miles from  Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), and the drive takes less than 10 minutes.

What cruise lines sail from Miami?

Miami is the home port of several cruise lines, including MSC Cruises (which has a brand-new terminal), Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages. Other mainstream lines — such as Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and Holland America Line — also sail from the port occasionally.

The port also sees visits from smaller, more niche and sometimes foreign cruise lines, as well as luxury brands. These cruise lines include Azamara, Crystal, Hapag-Lloyd, Hurtigruten, Oceania Cruises, P&O Cruises, Ponant, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Sea Cloud Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, TUI Cruises and Windstar Cruises.

What cruise lines sail from Port Canaveral?

Major cruise lines with a home base at Port Canaveral include Carnival, Disney, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and MSC. Visiting lines include Costa Cruises, Cunard, Oceania and Regent, among others.

What cruise lines sail from Fort Lauderdale?

Aerial shot of cruise ships docked at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale
Cruise ships docked in Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades. PORT EVERGLADES/FACEBOOK

Long-term resident lines at Port Everglades are Celebrity, Disney, Holland America, Princess and Royal Caribbean. Brands that sometimes visit Fort Lauderdale include Crystal, Cunard, Ritz-Carlton, Silversea and Viking.

What cruise lines sail from Tampa, Jacksonville and West Palm Beach?

Port Tampa Bay has three cruise terminals that host cruise ships from five different lines: Carnival, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Margaritaville at Sea and Norwegian. Luxury line Oceania Cruises will also begin sailing from Tampa in 2026.

Jaxport has just one berth that serves as a base for Carnival and, beginning in 2025, Norwegian. The Port of Palm Beach serves only one line: Margaritaville at Sea.

Where can you cruise from Florida?

Destinations ships visit from Florida departure ports include the Bahamas, and the Southern, Eastern and Western Caribbean, as well as many of the cruise lines’ private islands. They also occasionally include Key West.

Ships also depart from Florida ports on one-way Panama Canal or transatlantic cruises, and some travel as far as South America.

Some ships visit Florida ports as part of longer itineraries that depart from other states. You might find a stop at Port Canaveral on a weeklong Bahamas cruise from New York, for example.

Want to know more about cruising from Florida? Check out our other coverage here: