Departure port guide
Group 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.
What sails from Fort Lauderdale
Cruise lines
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian, Carnival, MSC
Voyage lengths
7 nights to the Caribbean, plus 10, 11 and 14-night Southern Caribbean and Panama Canal voyages
How often
Departures most days, year-round, peaking October to April; transatlantic repositioning in spring and autumn
Which ships are based here changes from season to season, so treat this as the shape of the deployment rather than a schedule. We do not publish sailing dates or fares — they go out of date faster than a page can be maintained, and we confirm live availability and pricing for your group's dates directly with the line.
Getting to the ship
Nearest airport
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International (FLL) — About 3 km, 10 minutes
Terminals
Eight passenger terminals spread around the harbour, numbered rather than lettered. Terminals 18, 19, 21, 25, 26 and 29 handle most large-ship turnarounds. Unlike Miami, the terminals are spread around a working harbour rather than along one road.
Parking
Garages and surface lots sit beside the terminals, charged per day, and they are generally easier to get into than PortMiami’s. Off-site lots along US-1 undercut them significantly for a week-long stay.
Sails to
Western Caribbean, Eastern Caribbean, Southern Caribbean, The Bahamas
Sailing from Fort Lauderdale
Port Everglades is the second-busiest cruise port in the world and the one most often chosen by groups flying in, for a single reason: Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International is about 3 km away, and the transfer takes ten minutes. No other major homeport comes close.
It handles the same Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries as Miami, plus a disproportionate share of the longer voyages — ten- and eleven-night Southern Caribbean sailings, Panama Canal transits and transatlantic repositioning cruises leave from here more often than from Miami.
The terminals are numbered and scattered around a working harbour that also handles oil and containers, so they are not all in one line. A group arriving in several vehicles needs the terminal number, not just the port name.
For a large group, the combination of a short airport run and a beach fifteen minutes away makes a pre-cruise night genuinely easy to organise — people can fly in at different times and still meet for dinner.
Moving a group through the port
Airport transfers
The shortest airport transfer of any major cruise homeport. Taxis, rideshare and cruise line coaches all run it in well under 15 minutes outside peak congestion.
Embarkation day
Arrival windows apply, but the port is less congested than Miami and the approach roads handle groups better. The very short airport transfer means a same-day morning flight is more survivable here than anywhere else — though still not recommended.
The night before
Fort Lauderdale Beach is 15 minutes from the port and is the usual choice for a group that wants a day before sailing. Airport hotels are closer and cheaper. Las Olas Boulevard is the walkable dining street.
Driving distance
- Miami — 45 minutes
- West Palm Beach — 1 hour
- Orlando — 3 hours
- Tampa — 4 hours
- Jacksonville — 5 hours
Terminal assignments, parking rates and transfer times change, and embarkation windows are set by the cruise line for each sailing. Treat these as the shape of the day rather than a schedule, and confirm the detail once your sailing is booked.
What to weigh up
Starting here as a group
- The shortest airport-to-terminal transfer of any major homeport, at about 10 minutes
- Less embarkation congestion than Miami for a similar choice of ships
- The usual departure point for longer Southern Caribbean and transatlantic sailings
- Terminals are spread around the harbour, so confirm the number before booking transfers
Other departure ports
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.
Vancouver
A downtown cruise terminal under a landmark roof, and the only practical starting point for one-way Gulf of Alaska sailings.
Barcelona
The Mediterranean’s busiest turnaround port, with wide flight connections and a city worth arriving early for.
Civitavecchia
Rome’s turnaround port, about 80 km from the city — the busiest Italian homeport and the one where transfer planning matters most.
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.
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.
Long Beach
Carnival’s West Coast base, in a geodesic dome beside the Queen Mary, running short Baja sailings year-round.
San Diego
A downtown cruise terminal about 5 km from its own airport — the shortest airport transfer of any West Coast homeport.
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.
Port Canaveral
Florida’s Space Coast homeport, an hour from Orlando — the obvious choice for a group pairing a cruise with the theme parks.
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.
Tampa
A Gulf-side Florida homeport with terminals in the middle of the city, and a height restriction that keeps the largest ships out.
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.
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.
Bridgetown
The Southern Caribbean’s own turnaround port, reaching the Windwards and the ABC islands without a crossing.
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.
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.
Jacksonville
North Florida’s small homeport on the St. Johns River, running short Bahamas sailings with the easiest embarkation in the state.
Sailing a group out of Fort Lauderdale
We hold five cabins or more together as one block, quote it once, and let each household book and pay separately. Tell us roughly when and how many.