Departure port index
Where cruises depart from
Getting one couple to a ship is easy. Getting thirty people there on the same morning is the part that goes wrong, so these guides cover terminals, transfers, parking and the night before.
Departure port guides
Cruises from Seattle
The busiest Alaska homeport, running round-trip Inside Passage weeks from a city most of the west coast can reach without a connecting flight.
Cruises from Vancouver
A downtown cruise terminal under a landmark roof, and the only practical starting point for one-way Gulf of Alaska sailings.
Cruises from Barcelona
The Mediterranean’s busiest turnaround port, with wide flight connections and a city worth arriving early for.
Cruises from Civitavecchia
Rome’s turnaround port, about 80 km from the city — the busiest Italian homeport and the one where transfer planning matters most.
Cruises from Piraeus
The starting point for Greek island itineraries, putting a group among the Cyclades from the first morning rather than after a day at sea.
Cruises from Los Angeles
The West Coast’s largest cruise homeport, at San Pedro, running Mexican Riviera weeks in winter and repositioning to Alaska for the summer.
Cruises from Long Beach
Carnival’s West Coast base, in a geodesic dome beside the Queen Mary, running short Baja sailings year-round.
Cruises from San Diego
A downtown cruise terminal about 5 km from its own airport — the shortest airport transfer of any West Coast homeport.
Cruises from Miami
PortMiami calls itself the cruise capital of the world, with seven terminals on a single island and the widest choice of ships and itineraries anywhere.
Cruises from Fort Lauderdale
Port Everglades sits three kilometres from its own airport — the shortest airport-to-ship transfer of any major homeport, which is why groups flying in favour it.
Cruises from Port Canaveral
Florida’s Space Coast homeport, an hour from Orlando — the obvious choice for a group pairing a cruise with the theme parks.
Cruises from Galveston
The Gulf Coast’s main homeport, on a barrier island an hour from Houston — the drive-to port for groups across Texas and the central US.
Cruises from Tampa
A Gulf-side Florida homeport with terminals in the middle of the city, and a height restriction that keeps the largest ships out.
Cruises from New Orleans
A Mississippi River homeport a short walk from the French Quarter — the one US cruise port where the city itself is the reason to sail from there.
Cruises from San Juan
The Caribbean’s own homeport — sailing from here removes the two-day crossing and adds two or three extra ports to the same week.
Cruises from Bridgetown
The Southern Caribbean’s own turnaround port, reaching the Windwards and the ABC islands without a crossing.
Cruises from Cape Liberty
The New York area’s main cruise terminal, on a former military ocean terminal in Bayonne, with a Statue of Liberty sail-past on the way out.
Cruises from Baltimore
A Mid-Atlantic drive-to homeport with a single terminal, free of the flight costs a Florida departure adds for a group from the region.
Cruises from Jacksonville
North Florida’s small homeport on the St. Johns River, running short Bahamas sailings with the easiest embarkation in the state.
Choosing a departure port
For a large group the departure port is usually a bigger decision than the ship. It sets how many people fly, how many drive, how many hotel rooms you need the night before, and how much of the budget disappears before anyone boards.
The rule of thumb is simple: count how many of your group can drive to each candidate port in under six hours. That number moves the total cost more than any fare difference between two ships sailing the same week.
For anyone who does have to fly, book the night before. A missed connection is the single most common reason people miss a sailing, and a ship will not wait. Ports with a short airport transfer — Fort Lauderdale is about ten minutes — reduce the risk but do not remove it.
Which regions each port reaches
Seattle
Vancouver
Barcelona
Civitavecchia
Fort Lauderdale
New Orleans
Bridgetown
Jacksonville
Moving a group to the ship
Tell us where people are travelling from and roughly how many. We will tell you which departure ports make the trip cheapest and least fragile.