Port of New Orleans Announces Record-Breaking Number of Cruise Passengers in 2024

If you cruised out of New Orleans in 2024, you were part of a record-breaking number of folks who vacationed there.

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA), the 6th largest U.S. cruise port, announced yesterday a record-breaking year with more than 1.2 million cruise passenger movements in 2024.

“We are grateful to our cruise and hospitality partners, including New Orleans & Company, for helping Port NOLA achieve a record-breaking number of passengers,” said Port NOLA President & CEO Beth Branch.

“These valued partnerships continue to drive strong demand and promising growth projections for both ocean-going and river cruising from Port NOLA. We look forward to building on this momentum for another successful year in 2025.”

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The cruise business is good for both the state and local economy. Ninety percent of cruise guests travel from out of state. A whopping 70% of those guests will spend one or two days in New Orleans before or after their cruise -- a total of more than 300,000 hotel room nights and upward of $125 million in local spending each year.

There are several cruise lines currently servicing Port NOLA including Carnival, Norweigan, Royal Caribbean, American Cruise Lines, and Viking.

In 2024, Port NOLA's cruise line partners strengthened their commitments to the Big Easy. Carnival Cruise Line finalized a five-year agreement for two year-round vessels, "The Valor" and "The Liberty" and also celebrated their 30th year of cruising from New Orleans.

Royal Caribbean returned with the "Brilliance of the Seas." Norweigan is continuing with its five-year agreement with Port NOLA and added sailings for the "Norweigan Getaway."

Port NOLA continues to offer sailings on six homeported river vessels, including American Cruise Lines and North America’s first Viking Cruise which was built in Louisiana and began sailing in 2022.

In an exciting move for 2025, New Orleans is also now a port call with vessels coming to New Orleans allowing cruise guests to enjoy the city and its many attractions.

On January 16th, Port NOLA welcomed the inaugural call for MSC's Explora II, a luxury cruise line. And later this year, Port NOLA will welcome P&O's Ventura, a Carnival Corporation Subsidiary, as well as SAGA Cruises Spirit of Discovery.

To learn more about the Port of New Orleans and the cruises you can take out of there, visit PortNOLA.com/cruises.