Cruise industry in the United States - statistics & facts
The United States has a cruise trip for everyone’s taste. Passengers traveling from Florida, home of the two busiest cruise ports worldwide, as well as from Texas and New York, can easily reach the sunny shores of the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda, the most visited cruise destinations in the world. Meanwhile, ships sailing from California and Washington offer itineraries to Mexico and Alaska, two other key hubs for cruise tourism. In this sense, the country’s rich variety of coastal regions and its proximity to popular destinations played an important role in making the U.S. the leading global cruise market.
Overall, while all the three companies had a record year in terms of earnings in 2023, thanks to a rebound in passengers carried, the financial losses accumulated during the pandemic will certainly remain an issue for the years to come. That said, the rising interest in cruise vacations in the U.S., which reached a new high in 2024, is cause for optimism, showing that there’s still much room for growth even for the global leading cruise market.
How many cruise passengers travel from the U.S. every year?
In 2023, U.S. travelers accounted for over half of all cruise passengers worldwide, highlighting how crucial is this market for the global cruise industry. That year, the number of cruise passengers sourced from the U.S. totaled nearly 17 million, a 19 percent increase from 2019 and the highest figure reported to date. As the volume of cruise goers recovered from the impact of COVID-19, so did the cruise industry’s revenue in the United States. After declining to under two billion U.S. dollars in 2021 due to the pandemic, sales bounced back to over 23 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. As forecast, this figure is expected to keep increasing in the following years, exceeding 30 million U.S. dollars by 2028.What are the leading U.S. cruise companies?
Given the importance of the U.S. market, it comes as no surprise that three of the biggest cruise operators worldwide - Carnival Corporation & plc, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line - chose the United States as their headquarters. In 2023, Carnival Corporation’s total revenue surpassed pre-pandemic levels, amounting to nearly 22 billion U.S. dollars. Although this was the highest figure in the global cruise market, that year Royal Caribbean’s net income was higher than that of its competitors. Meanwhile, a Condé Nast Traveler’s global survey crowned Norwegian Cruise Line as the best-rated mega-ship cruise line in 2023.Overall, while all the three companies had a record year in terms of earnings in 2023, thanks to a rebound in passengers carried, the financial losses accumulated during the pandemic will certainly remain an issue for the years to come. That said, the rising interest in cruise vacations in the U.S., which reached a new high in 2024, is cause for optimism, showing that there’s still much room for growth even for the global leading cruise market.
