A record number of Americans are predicted to get on board in 2026 for a cruise vacation with Florida’s big three ports forecast to be the top embarkation points, according to a report from AAA.
The travel company projects 21.7 million Americans will book a sailing next year, a 4.5% increase from 2025’s numbers that have already seen 20.7 million travelers from the U.S.
“Cruising is surging, with travelers booking more voyages and exploring new destinations in record numbers,” said Debbie Haas, vice president of travel for AAA in a press release.
The projection would mark the fourth year in a row of records set, which dipped from 2020-2022 because of fallout from the COVID pandemic.
Winter cruise guide: New ships about to descend on Florida’s big 3 ports
PortMiami is projected to lead the way again with its share of the traffic, responsible for 10.2% of all American cruise embarkations and debarkations. Port Canaveral, which held the title of world’s busiest cruise port for one year based on 2022’s traffic after the pandemic reopening, but has since fallen back to No. 2, should grab 8.8% of the traffic, while No. 3 Port Everglades should get 5.6%.
Port Canaveral could once again challenge Miami’s top numbers, as the Orlando-area port also gets daily passenger movements from ships that call on the port as a destination when they sail from elsewhere, such as New York. Daily passenger movements count for when people get on as well as get off.
Port rankings for the full calendar year are usually released by late February by the Florida Ports Council.
Port Canaveral’s fiscal 2026 budget, which is for October 2025-September 2026, is already projecting more than 9 million passenger movements, building on fiscal 2025’s record of more than 8.6 million from 1,038 cruise calls.
The demand amid the industry’s pandemic rebound since 2021 has meant cruise lines have had welcome takers for their new hardware with Florida getting the lion’s share of cruise ship debuts.
Royal Caribbean has brought to the state the three largest cruise ships in the world with Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas as well as the last of its Quantum Plus class, Odyssey of the Seas.
Disney Cruise Line has debuted from Port Canaveral two of its new Wish class ships, Wish and Treasure, with a third, Disney Destiny, set to arrive next month to Port Everglades.
Carnival has brought two of its three Excel class ships to the state, with Mardi Gras’ debut from Port Canaveral in 2021 followed by Carnival Celebration from Miami in 2022. Norwegian has debuted two Prima class ships (Prima and Viva) and one Prima-plus class ship (Aqua) with Norwegian Luna coming in 2026. And MSC Cruises had brought its largest ship MSC World America to Miami along with other new ships MSC Seashore and Seascape.
Celebrity is set to debut its sixth Edge-class ship, Celebrity Xcel, next month from Port Everglades with four of the five others having also arrived since 2021 to the Fort Lauderdale port. Princess Cruises also headed to Port Everglades, having sailed out its last two Royal-class ships, and is about to bring its second Sphere class ship next month with the arrival of Star Princess following sister ship Sun Princess’ debut in 2024.
Virgin Voyages rolled out three of its fleet of four ships since 2021, including the new Brilliant Lady this month, and Holland America had the last of its Pinnacle class debut with the ms Rotterdam. New ships have also made their way to the state from Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, Explora Journeys, Silversea Cruises, Seabourn and others.
AAA states older adults remain the majority among those who cruise, with 65% aged 55 and older, 27% from 35-54 and 7% between 18-34.
More than half travel as couples, with 20% also bringing children. Only 7% travel solo.
The Caribbean remains the most popular offering with 72% of U.S. cruise passengers. Alaska comes in next with 7% and 5% head to the Mediterranean.
AAA travel agents state that nine out of 10 of their customers who have cruised rate the experience as either good or very good, and 91% have cruised more than once.
The projections from AAA are based on scheduled cruise itineraries paired with a database from Tourism Economics focused on the cruise industry as well as economic forecasts from Oxford Economics.