July 17, 2024
Provided Image/Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Jewel, operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, will call Philadelphia its home port in 2026. The ship carries 2,330 passengers and will make voyages to Bermuda and the North Atlantic coast.
Norwegian Cruise Line will make Philadelphia its home port for voyages to Bermuda and the northern Atlantic Coast beginning in spring 2026, city officials said Wednesday. The agreement marks a new chapter for cruise travel out of the city, a small industry that collapsed around the start of the 2010s as cruise lines opted for other ports of departure.
The Port of Philadelphia said the Norwegian Jewel, a cruise ship with a capacity of 2,330 passengers, will make 24 calls to the city between April and October of 2026. It will offer seven- and nine-day trips to Bermuda during the spring and summer months. In the fall, it will sail 10- and 11-day voyages north to New England and Canada, where it will use Quebec as an alternating home port. The northern trips will make stops in Boston and Bar Harbor, Maine, and Saguenay, Charlottetown and Halifax in Canada.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the arrangement will bring millions of passengers to the Philadelphia waterfront during the same year the city becomes the focus of the U.S. semiquincentennial.
"With all eyes on Philadelphia as we prepare to host our country's 250th birthday in 2026, the Port will continue to help support and grow Philadelphia tourism to create economic opportunity for our region, workers, and businesses," Shapiro said.
The cruise industry has been largely absent from Philadelphia's port for more than a decade. Norwegian Cruise Line's former ship, the Majesty, called the city its home port in the mid-2000s before that vessel was sold in 2008.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines also operated out of Philly during that period, but the industry dwindled from 36 departures in 2006 to just two in 2011. At that point, the Delaware River Port Authority voted to shut down its cruise terminal at the Navy Yard where it had a longstanding association.
DRPA had been involved in the cruise industry since 1998 and landed the city's first home port vessel, the Crown Dynasty, in 2001. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Navy Yard terminal accommodated more than a dozen that were diverted from New York and other ports of call. And in October 2002, the city hosted the maiden voyage of the Carnival Legend cruise ship.
At the time, DRPA viewed the Navy Yard terminal as a "valuable asset" that uplifted tourism in the city. But when the activity dried up, DRPA determined it no longer made economic sense to stay in the cruise business.
DRPA spokesperson Mike Williams said Wednesday the agency will not be involved in the new agreement with Norwegian Cruise Line. It will be managed by the Port of Philadelphia, which operates as an independent state agency also known as PhilaPort and the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.
"Since ceasing its cruise operations in 2011 due to changes in the industry, the DRPA has focused solely on managing its four bridges and the PATCO transit line," Williams said. "This new development, a collaboration between PhilaPort and Norwegian Cruise Lines, reflects a renewed interest in and potential growth for cruise tourism in Philadelphia and South Jersey."
Philadelphia's port has been hampered in the past by height restrictions on ships traveling under the bridges that cross the Delaware River. It's also a longer journey to and from the open ocean out of Philadelphia – about 100 miles – than it is from ports in New York, Bayonne and Baltimore. It takes about six hours to sail up the Delaware River and out to the Atlantic Ocean, DRPA officials had said when they closed the Navy Yard terminal.
Changes in the cruise industry also have shifted fleets toward larger "megaships" that can carry more than 5,000 passengers and pack more amenities into an amusement park-style experience. This was another reason DRPA moved away from cruises. Larger ships drive profits for cruise lines, but the trend has split the industry into multiple segments with smaller vessels focused on passengers' tourism in the cities where they stop.
In 2026, Philadelphia will be re-entering a global cruise industry that has been growing since the COVID-19 pandemic. The expansion has been buoyed by demand from U.S. travelers, who made up 43% of cruise passengers in 2022.
The Port of Philadelphia projects that a resurgent cruise industry could generate more than $40 million in annual county and state tax revenue by 2028, the agency said. The industry could create about 2,000 jobs directly and indirectly, officials said, and the biggest beneficiaries could be hotels, restaurants, museums and historical sites that get more visitation.
Norwegian Cruise Line unveiled details about its 2026 itineraries on Wednesday, including plans for its Breakaway and Aqua cruises to continue voyages out of Boston and New York. Company president David J. Herrera said Jewel's home port agreement in Philadelphia is a "key milestone" for the cruise line to spotlight the city for the first time in years. The American cruise line was founded in Norway in 1966 and currently operates 19 ships.
The port said it will spend the next 18 months making improvements to the port, which is already one of the nation's fastest-growing cargo hubs.
"Now we are pleased to add tourism and cruises to our portfolio," PhilaPort executive director and CEO Jeff Theobald said.
The expected arrival of the cruise line in 2026 adds to a busy schedule that year in Philadelphia, which is slated to host events including the FIFA World Cup, MLB All-Star Game, NCAA March Madness games and the festivities surrounding the nation's 250th birthday celebration.
