On 8th February, the world’s largest cruise port, PortMiami, Florida, enjoyed a record day when 10 large cruise ships were handled.
In addition, the port celebrated the soft opening of MSC Cruises’ new terminal at the eastern end of Dodge Island, further expanding its capacity.
The 10 ships berthed included the ‘Carnival Magic’, ’Carnival Sunrise’, ’Zaandam, ’MSC Seascape’, ’Norwegian Escape’, ’Norwegian Gem’, ’Sirena’, ’Icon of the Seas’, ’Independence of the Seas’, and ’Scarlet Lady’.
In total they had a double occupancy capacity of around 32,000 pax and a total capacity of about 38,000 pax, excluding crew.
Counting both disembarking and embarking passengers, being a turnround port, PortMiami claimed that around 64,000 people were handled on the day.
It was also reported that PortMiami reclaimed its top spot by handling 8,233,056 passengers in FY2024.
It had been the largest homeport for several years but was briefly overtaken by Port Canaveral, Florida after the resumption of cruising, following the pandemic.
“PortMiami is the departure choice for all major cruise lines,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava.
“It is no surprise PortMiami and the cruise industry continue to break records.”
On the same day, MSC Cruises new Miami cruise terminal welcomed its first official guests with the berthing of the ‘MSC Seascape’.
This terminal is claimed to the largest in the world, capable of accommodating three ships simultaneously and up to 36,000 passengers per day.
The project, which was reportedly a year late and vastly over budget, having originally been set at €350 mill, was a collaboration between the Cruise Division of MSC Group, PortMiami and Miami-Dade County.
It was designed by Arquitectonica, while the construction was undertaken by Fincantieri Infrastructure.
MSC Cruises plans to homeport four ships at the new terminal this year, in addition to vessels from its luxury brand, Explora Journeys.
The company will also celebrate the delivery and the naming ceremony of its latest ‘World’ class ship, ’MSC World America’, at the terminal in April.
