The Port of Seattle is launching its most ambitious cruise season in history on Friday, with officials projecting a record 330 vessel calls and approximately 2.1 million revenue passengers between now and 11 October, surpassing every previous season on record.
Sixteen ships will be homeported in Seattle during the season, including two cruise lines making their Seattle debut. MSC Cruises will arrive with the MSC Poesia, and Virgin Voyages will bring the Brilliant Lady, adding new options for travellers departing from the city for the first time.
The economic stakes are substantial. Analysis of the 2025 cruise season showed $1.2 billion in local economic impact, supporting roughly 5,120 direct and indirect jobs across the region. Each ship that docks generates significant spending in the local economy. “Every time that ship docks they buy $4.5 million of goods and services,” said Bob Donegan, president of Ivar’s and a member of the Historic Waterfront Association.
The cruise season is arriving alongside a convergence of other major demand drivers that could make this one of Seattle’s busiest summers in recent memory. The Historic Waterfront Association projects more than 8 million people will visit the Waterfront this summer, with visitation expected to climb 30% due to the FIFA World Cup and elevated traffic from the Mariners season overlapping with the cruise surge. “This will be the busiest summer Seattle has had in recent history. We’re happy about that,” Donegan said.
Miners Landing, a major tourist hub along the Waterfront, is equally optimistic. Nic Eames, Director of Operations for Miners Landing, said the completion of the long-running Waterfront construction project, which concluded last summer with the opening of Pier 58 adjacent to Miners Landing, positions the area to welcome the anticipated crowds in a way that was not possible in previous years. “We’re really looking forward to kind of seeing the culmination of all the work that’s been done to get this area and the Waterfront ready to go, and really become a tourist destination,” Eames said.
Environmental performance remains a priority for the port as the season scales up. All cruise berths in Seattle are equipped with shore power, allowing ships to shut off their engines while docked and connect to electricity supplied by Seattle City Light. In 2025, 87% of shore power-capable vessels connected to clean power while at berth, avoiding an estimated 6,444 metric tons of CO2 emissions. The port plans to require all homeported vessels to use shore power starting in 2027.
