Cozumel Has Record Breaking Start to 2025 With Cruise Visitors
On April 13, 2025, the Cozumel City Council announced that the city had set a new cruise tourism record following a successful start to the sailing season this year.
While Cozumel remains one of the most visited ports in the world, it has been trying for years to reach the level of cruise tourism it received in pre-pandemic times.
This new record of reported cruise passengers is important because it did not just match the pre-pandemic numbers — it exceeded them.
During the first three months of 2025, Cozumel was visited by 1,502,727 cruisers. The previous record was set in 2019, when during the same time of year the port welcomed around 1.4 million cruise tourists.
Currently, the city has the goal of trying to break another record by hosting 5 million cruisers by the end of 2025.
The mayor of this crucial cruise destination in Mexico, José Luis Chacón Méndez, highlighted that the city’s success so far this year is indicative that it is close to reaching this goal.
“Last year, Cozumel welcomed 4,623,000 tourists; the goal is to reach 5 million. We will achieve this by working closely with the shipping companies, tourism entrepreneurs on the island, and internationally,” Méndez added.
If the city achieves this goal, it will replace the current highest annual total of cruise passengers Cozumel has seen, which was in 2024.
Read Also: Cozumel Cruise Port – Terminals, Piers and Getting Around
Prior to that, the port had seen 4.3 million cruisers in 2018 — but both the port’s rise in popularity and the boom in cruise tourism post-pandemic are proving to be all-around beneficial for Cozumel.
Just this week, the Quintana Roo Comprehensive Port Authority announced that they were expecting to see 80,459 passengers arrive on 21 vessels between April 14 and 20.
The peak day during this week was April 17, when the port hosted Carnival Dream, Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Paradise, Celebrity Equinox, and Mariner of the Seas.
With it projected to be the busiest day of the season, Cozumel welcomed an estimated 18,297 guests on this day.
While this may have been one of the busiest days, the year is still just getting started, and the port will continue to welcome more cruisers than ever before.
The Rapid Rise of Cruise Tourism in Cozumel
Cozumel Cruise Port is the largest port in Mexico, featuring three terminals which has allowed for nearly all major cruise lines to add this stop to their itineraries.
Recently, a request was submitted by SSA Mexico to extend the berthing infrastructure at the International Cruise Terminal, which would give larger ships better access to the terminal.
The International terminal currently hosts ships from Celebrity Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, and Royal Caribbean.
Punta Langosta Terminal is the busiest terminal in the city, welcoming ships from 11 cruise lines on a regular basis.
Carnival Cruise Corporation owns the Puerta Maya Terminal, so this is where Carnival-owned cruise lines dock.
While there have not been any berthing upgrades to this terminal since a third berth was added in 2015, Carnival did recently install solar panels that generate enough power for the entire terminal.
Something that did take effect this year is that all three ports now require all cruise passengers to pay a $5 fee when visiting Cozumel.
The point of this fee is to fund the infrastructure maintenance needed for cruise tourism, but also to help aid in natural disaster preparedness for the region.
The majority of the funds collected will be going towards port maintenance, road improvements, and beach revitalization.
It is projected that upwards of $25 million will be raised annually, which will allow for Cozumel to continue to welcome cruisers while providing them the best experience possible.
Given that it’s only four months into 2025, this year promises to be an exciting one for one of the largest ports in the world.
Cozumel Has Record Breaking Start to 2025 With Cruise Visitors