The New Philadelphia Cruise Port - Opening April 2026

 

(Philadelphia Cruise Terminal - Courtesy of PhilaPort)

Philadelphia.  A new Cruise port option.

As a New Yorker, I don't like traveling to cities outside New York to take cruises similar to what is offered in my home port.  However, Philadelphia may be one of the exceptions to my rule, as I could leave NYC in the morning, reach Philadelphia by noon, and be on the ship by 1:30 pm.

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Background:

Around 2010-2011, cruise ships stopped sailing out of Philadelphia.   According to a post by "Philly Steve" on Cruise Critic (12/02/2010), "At the height of Philadelphia's cruise ship "era," there were about 12 cruises a year, operated by Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line. The terminal was spacious but warehouse like. Some passengers had issues with the walkway to the ship because of its incline. Bargain priced parking was secure and nearby."   Couple this with a 6 hour trip to get to the sea, and one can understand how cruise traffic dwindled to 2 cruises per year.  It didn't make sense to cruise out of Philadelphia when better cruise ports were within a 2 hour trip, nor did it make sense to upgrade the old cruise terminal for so few cruises..

In 2025, ground was broken for a new Philadelphia Cruise Terminal to open in April 2026.  Norwegian Cruise Lines has signed a deal where NCL will use this port for 7 years with 41 sailings per year.  Of the 2026 cruises, the Norwegian Jewel and the Norwegian Pearl will be sailing to the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Eastern Canada & New England.  I expect that this will be a popular cruise port in spite of Philadelphia's distance from the sea, as NCL will be giving 2 of its "affordable" Jewel class ships ships an under-served port to cruise from.  

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A new location and a new port:

At the time I started gathering information for this entry, Google had yet to pin the location of the new Philadelphia Cruise Terminal in Google Maps. However, PhilaPort had this information posted already.  Parking for the terminal will be located nearby, and a shuttle to the terminal provided to/from the parking lot.  Although the new cruise terminal will be a little further from city center than the former terminal at the Navy Yard, it may be easier to access due to its location adjacent to Philadelphia's airport.

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One Cruise with two ports to visit:

I look forward to cruising out of this port, as NCL will be doing the above route sometime in 2027.  The ports of Charlottetown, PE and Eastport, ME interest me for two reasons:

• Eastport:
  
  There is a possibility of a shore excursion that crosses the border to make a visit to the Roosevelt summer house on Campobello island.
  
  
• Charlottetown:
  
  My previous two cruises scheduled to reach this port had to skip it due to weather related issues.  I'd like to finally get to this port and check it off my New England / Eastern Canada port list.

Given that NCL has not scheduled any cruises to New England / Eastern Canada from New York in 2027, I expect that Philadelphia may become my NCL home port of choice for cruises to this region.  Assuming that we leave New York Penn Station by 8:30 am, we'd have no problem getting to Philadelphia by 10:00 am, and be on the ship by noon.  It'll be nice to have a choice of home port from which to cruise from.

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A Marketing Error:

One may have noticed an anomaly I found on NCL's website for Philadelphia cruises on February 13, 2026.  In the cruise listing above, it appears that NCL may have cribbed some text from a New York listing for a Philadelphia cruise

11-Day Caribbean Round-trip New York: Dominican Republic & San Juan

At least, NCL got the placement of the cruise correct, listing it under NCL's Philadelphia cruises.  But then, maybe they are trying to attract New Yorkers to this port? 😀 

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I wondered - will the new cruise terminal be ready for the first cruise, or will temporary arrangements need to be made for the ships scheduled to start sailing this month?  

In Late March/Early April, NCL answered the above question, and supplied information to cruisers taking its April cruises out of Philadelphia that they will check in for the cruise (and drop off their bags) at the Clarion Hotel Philadelphia Airport, then be bused to temporary facilities to be security screened before boarding the ship. Parking at the hotel will also be available for cruise passengers for $16/day. Upon disembarkation, cruise passengers will pick up their luggage at the Clarion Hotel. Those people with airport transfers will be transported directly to the airport upon disembarkation.  Hopefully, this temporary situation will not last too long.

It's War - How will this affect cruising? (an extra post)

 

(The Marx Brothers defending Freedonia in Duck Soup.)

About a month ago, the United States and Israel started an unprovoked war against Iran.  As much as I'm glad that most of the Iranian leadership is gone.  But was it worth the cost?  What will happen to cruising, as well as what will happen to the 6 ships stuck on the wrong side of the Strait of Hormuz?

As I see things, the price of oil will skyrocket to $180 from its former price of $60 due to this war.  The US President is a pathological liar, a person who can easily contradict himself in mid-sentence.  He has said that the US has won the war, yet asks other nations to help him win it.  The uncertainty caused by this leader suffering with dementia can not be measured.  At least 13 American service members have come home in body bags, and another 130+ have been wounded in this war.  And there is no end in sight.

Our president is a person who will not back down from a position - even when the position can not logically be maintained.  So he moved forward with a war that the Israelis wanted to start, and claimed it was his idea.  One problem - he didn't think of all of the consequences the war would bring.

And that gets us to where we are today.  What will happen next?

First, with 20% of the world's oil supply stuck inside the strait, the price of oil will rise.  Unlike air fares, cruise fares have a clause which allows the cruise line to apply fuel surcharges to fully paid tickets.  One Asian cruise line has just added an $25.50/day/person surcharge for its cruises boarding in Hong Kong. I expect that surcharges will start appearing for most cruises over the next few months, as there is no defined end state for the war, and no reason for Iran to let up on attacking American interests around the globe.

Next, expect to see stricter security around cruise ships.  This shouldn't be much of a problem, but one never knows how this might play out.  Will cruise ships be targeted due the large number of Americans who enjoy this form of resort like vacation?  Once American troops land on Iranian soil (as I expect within the month), all bets are off regarding Iran's war tactics.

We've already seen cruise ports in the Persian Gulf shut down.  The 6 ships stuck there will likely be a warning for future cruise planners to avoid these ports. New itineraries for ships outside the gulf will get drawn up.  The Middle-East will likely become a no-go zone for years to come.  This also means that "World Cruises" will likely sail around Africa, than to sail through the Suez Canal.

But what will happen outside the Middle-East?  This is the great unknown.  I expect that cruise lines will reduce their dependence on ports capable of holding a large number of cruise ships in port at one time.  Terrorism has affected cruising before, and it will likely do so again.  If history doesn't repeat but simply echoes itself, then what will likely happen next?  As I see it, one will likely be the safest in ports where a single ship can make port at one time.  Philadelphia is one of these ports.  Additionally, if a port area can only handle 1 ship at a time in geographically separated piers (New York City's 3 regional cruise terminals come to mind), one may have the same benefits of a port like Philadelphia.  But the ports where I'd feel the least safe are those like Nassau, Bahamas, where 6 cruise ships can be in port at one time. 

So, what do you think will happen?  As for me, I'll still go one the cruises I planned on, but I'll be a little more careful than usual.  By the time I get on my next cruise, I hope that I won't have to pay a fuel surcharge.  Additionally, I hope that this war ends by the end of summer, so that late summer cruising isn't affected by fuel surcharges.  Expect to see more sea days baked into cruise itineraries, as a ship is safest when far away from port, as well as being most profitable due to onboard ship spending.