Jaxport adds cruise capacity amid stiff competition from southern Florida ports (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Jacksonville’s cruise business is picking up steam.
With Norwegian Cruise Line set to launch service from JaxPort in November and Carnival reporting record Jacksonville bookings last year, the First Coast is adding capacity even as a new study ranks the city No. 16 among U.S. and Canadian cruise hubs.
The Compare the Market index factors passenger volume, on-shore activities, weather and imported beer prices. By that measure, Jacksonville ranks ahead of Galveston, New Orleans, the Port of New York and New Jersey and Palm Beach. It trails four Florida peers: Port Canaveral (10), Tampa (11), Port Everglades (12) and Miami (14).
The study credits Jacksonville with roughly 170,000 passengers, a strong activities score (165.9 per 100,000) and a low $5 imported-beer cost; globally, the city lands at No. 58 as Canadian ports dominate the top tier.
With NCL entering the market and Carnival’s Jacksonville tally hitting a record 206,000 bookings in 2024, which Jaxport CEO Eric Green said is the most the company has seen since it first began service out of the city in 2004.
To the south, Port Canaveral is poised to welcome the cruise line’s newest ship, Carnival Festivale, which will begin sailing May 19, 2027, amid a $500 million, five-year investment plan to expand cruise capacity.
Carnival has also opened reservations for Carnival Firenze’s 2027 PortMiami sailings, including a special 16-day repositioning voyage from Buenos Aires to Orlando and a lineup of four- to 13-day Caribbean itineraries.