San Diego's cruise season is officially underway, and the numbers behind it are striking. The Ruby Princess docked at the B Street Pier Cruise Terminal on September 14 to open the 2026-27 season, sailing a seven-day Classic California Coast itinerary for Princess Cruises — a line that has called at the port for more than 50 years.
The season ahead is the port's largest in over 15 years: 183 voyages are scheduled, a jump of 68 percent from 109 calls last season and up from just 75 in 2024-25. The Port of San Diego expects more than 700,000 cruise passengers to pass through between now and the end of the season.
Part of the surge comes from fresh names on the berth list. Royal Caribbean is homeporting ships in San Diego for the first time, and Disney is adding a second vessel — the Disney Magic will sail alongside the Disney Wonder. Disney and the port have also signed an agreement running through at least 2031 that roughly doubles the number of Disney cruises departing from the city, with more than a million Disney passengers expected over the life of the deal. Notably, it's the first time in over two decades that any cruise line has committed to a minimum annual guarantee at the port — a sign of how seriously lines now take San Diego as a homeport.
The wider lineup reads like a who's who of mainstream and premium cruising: Holland America Line, Norwegian (now in its second year of homeport calls), MSC Cruises, Virgin Voyages, Silversea and Viking are all on the schedule, alongside Princess.
Why does this matter for travellers? San Diego works well as a departure port because it combines a genuinely appealing city — waterfront, beaches, a walkable downtown near the terminal — with a strategic position for West Coast and Baja Mexico itineraries. Short cruises down the Baja peninsula to Ensenada or Cabo San Lucas are easy additions to a California trip, and longer Pacific Coast runs call at places like Santa Barbara and San Francisco. With more lines homeporting here than at any point in recent memory, competition should mean more itinerary choice and sharper prices, especially for West Coast residents who historically had to drive to Los Angeles for cruise departures.
If you've been curious about cruising but put off by the mega-ports of Florida or Seattle, a season like this makes San Diego a low-hassle alternative — smaller crowds at the terminal, a pleasant city to arrive a day early in, and Mexico or the California coast on the itinerary. Bookings for the expanded Disney and Royal Caribbean sailings are the ones likely to fill fastest.