Port Canaveral has earned the title of world’s busiest cruise port for only the second time in its history.

The distinction became clear Tuesday because PortMiami, which traditionally has held that title, reported its passenger movements for fiscal 2025, falling short of Port Canaveral’s previously disclosed totals.

For the record: PortMiami had 8,564,225 cruise passengers get on or off a ship from Oct. 1, 2024-Sept. 30, 2025.

Port Canaveral had a record 8,602,047 passenger movements, making it No. 1.

The only other time that has happened was in the rebuilding year after the COVID pandemic, when Port Canaveral for fiscal 2022 had 4,071,891 passenger movements compared to PortMiami’s 4 million.

“We’ve got two great seaports in Florida, and we’re competitive with the number of passengers that are moving through our ports, and we’re very excited to be on par with Miami and Port Everglades isn’t far behind,” Port Canaveral CEO Capt. John Murray said Tuesday after learning the news. “It’s a great testament to cruising and what we do in the great state of Florida.”

Canaveral’s traffic comes from just six cruise terminals, but in fiscal 2025 it featured more and bigger ships calling it home than in previous years. That includes the current title holder for world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas, which arrived in August.

Canaveral also welcomed both Princess Cruises and Celebrity Cruises for the first time last winter, as two of the 16 ships that called the port home.

Another factor that helped push Canaveral over the top are the frequent port-of-call stops by cruise ships that sail to Central Florida from elsewhere, including New York.

During a state of the port speech in November, Murray noted the impact of increased traffic on the region.

Citing numbers from the Space Coast Office of Tourism, he noted 27% of cruise passengers spend at least one night in a local hotel, leading to an annual total of 2.3 million hotel stays.

“All of these things are indirectly fueling our local economy,” he said. “It’s a great thing to have the passengers coming through and spending their money.”

Despite falling just behind Port Canaveral’s total passenger count, PortMiami’s traffic was up from the 8.2 million passengers it reported in 2024, marking more than a 4% increase and the highest annual passenger count in the seaport’s history.

Port Canaveral, though, has a chance to build on its momentum, already forecasting it will top 9 million passenger movements in 2026.

“We’re looking at an increase for next year, that’s in our budget. …  So that’s the goal. And I don’t know what anybody else has in their budget for the upcoming year, but, you know, we are all in this together,” Murray said. “I think it’s very important that we don’t try to highlight one over another in any specific way. I think it’s great for the state of Florida. It’s great for our tourism. It’s great for our hotels, our tax base. It’s just a good thing overall for everybody.”