If you’re new to cruising and looking to book a cruise, you might want to consider sailing from Florida—Florida is the gateway to most Caribbean and Bahamas destinations. Since the Sunshine State is the cruise capital of the world, it has a plethora of ports for newbies to consider.

Is there a cruise port in Fort Lauderdale? What is Port Canaveral? Which Florida cruise ports are closest to the airport? The following guide can help you find these answers and more.

How many cruise ports are there in Florida?

Florida has seven cruise ports:

Of these seven ports, the first six are departure ports and bases for many ships on popular routes. In cruise terminology, the port where a ship starts and ends its voyage is called the home port. Some ships will call at these Florida ports year-round or seasonally. Other ships will make one-time voyages from Florida ports but are not based in Florida.

Unlike the other ports on this list, Key West does not serve as a start or end point for cruises. Rather, it is a port of call—a place where ships come to visit for the day.

The first three ports handle the departures of most cruise ships in the world; you can read more about them below.

Which Florida cruise port is the largest?

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

In 2024, Miami will welcome more than 8.2 million cruise visitors through 11 cruise terminals. In 2024, Port Canaveral’s seven terminals served 7.6 million passengers, and approximately 4 million passengers transited through Port Everglades’ eight terminals.

daily newsletter

Reward your inbox with TPG daily e-newsletters

Join over 700,000 readers and get breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive offers from TPG experts

Where is the Miami cruise port?

The Port of Miami’s terminals are located on Dodge Island, which runs parallel to Miami’s MacArthur Causeway. Most terminals are located on the island’s cruise route. The port is approximately 8 miles (less than 15 minutes) from Miami International Airport (MIA).

Where is Port Canaveral?

Port Canaveral is located at Cape Canaveral, 45 miles east of Orlando, and is an ideal starting point for Orlando theme parks and the Kennedy Space Center. It is located on a peninsula and is accessible from Exits 54A and 54B of State Route A1A, the 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 closest to a major airport. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is only about 3 miles and less than 10 minutes away.

Which cruise lines depart from Miami?

Miami is homeport to several cruise lines, including MSC Cruises (with a new terminal), Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Lines and Virgin Cruises. Other major cruise lines, such as Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, and Holland America Line, also occasionally depart from the port.

Smaller, more niche and sometimes foreign cruise lines and luxury brands also visit the port. 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.

Which cruise lines depart from Port Canaveral?

Major cruise lines based in Port Canaveral include Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruises and MSC Cruises. Excursion lines include Costa Cruises, Cunard Cruises, Oceania Cruises and Regent Cruises.

Which cruise lines depart from Fort Lauderdale?

Cruise lines permanently stationed in Port Everglades include Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises. Brands that sometimes visit Fort Lauderdale include Crystal, Cunard, Ritz-Carlton, Silversea and Viking.

Which cruise lines depart from Tampa, Jacksonville, and West Palm Beach?

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

Jaxport has only one berth and serves as the base for the Carnival and, from 2025, the Norwegian as well. The Port of Palm Beach offers only one route: Margaritaville at Sea.

Where can you cruise from in Florida?

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

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

Some ships visit Florida ports as part of longer trips from other states. For example, on a weeklong Bahamas cruise departing from New York, you might stop in Port Canaveral.

Want to learn more about cruises departing from Florida? Check out our other coverage here: