‘It is a perfect market:’ Celebrity Cruises sails into Port Canaveral for the first time

Canaveral to become fourth Florida port for cruise line

(Celebrity Cruise)

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – For the first time in Celebrity Cruises’ history, it’s calling Port Canaveral home.

The Celebrity Equinox arrived at the Space Coast on Tuesday and its inaugural voyage will set sail on Saturday.

Recommended Videos



Meanwhile, the Royal Caribbean-owned Celebrity Cruises already has sailings out of Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami in Florida.

“We are thrilled to add Port Canaveral to our list of home ports — it is a perfect market to reach a wide mix of both in and out-of-state travelers looking for fun in the Caribbean sun,” President of Celebrity Cruises Laura Hodges Bethge previously said in a news release.

The ship will offer 20 itineraries across its seven-night sailings, according to the news release. It is over 1,000 feet long and can accommodate nearly 3,000 passengers, the news release said.

It also went through a multimillion-dollar renovation in 2019.

Celebrity Equinox joins other ships having its first sailing here in December such as the Disney Treasure and the Caribbean Princess Love Boat.

All in all, the port said in its state of the year address that this year it has broken cruise passenger records, and it expects even more guests to sail through here in 2025.

“If you look at our passenger counts, as I mentioned, 7.6 million,” Captain John Murray said during the annual address last month. “That’s a new record for us. Last year, it was 6.8. That’s a pretty big jump in one year. 800,000 more people passing in and out of Port Canaveral,” he said.

Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: