Port Canaveral Sky Princess Caribbean Cruises

Port Canaveral, Florida is adding fresh cruise capacity as Sky Princess, a 3,660 guest Royal Class ship, begins a new season of Caribbean cruises from Central Florida on November 30, 2025. The Port Canaveral Sky Princess Caribbean cruises run as six and eight day roundtrip itineraries through March 2026, with the option to combine back to back sailings into 14 night Eastern Caribbean trips. For travelers, this puts a newer, larger Princess Cruises ship within easy reach of Orlando International Airport (MCO), regional drivers, and Brightline Rail and Sail trains.

The core change is that Sky Princess becomes the first Royal Class ship in the Princess fleet to homeport in Central Florida, and it does so with a schedule built around Port Canaveral. Princess and port officials confirm that the ship will run Caribbean cruises from November 30, 2025 through March 2026, then return for a second Port Canaveral season from November 2026 through March 2027, with all of those cruises already on sale.

From an itinerary standpoint, the program is deliberately simple. On Sundays, Sky Princess sails eight day Eastern Caribbean voyages that call at Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, and San Juan in Puerto Rico before returning to Port Canaveral. Monday departures are six day cruises that focus on Bahamian and Turks and Caicos calls such as Grand Turk, Nassau, and Freeport. Princess also allows guests to string two consecutive departures together, creating 14 night itineraries that circle through combinations of Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Amber Cove, and other Eastern Caribbean ports without repeating Port Canaveral mid trip.

For Central Florida, the deployment deepens a pattern that started when Caribbean Princess homeported at Port Canaveral for a prior winter season. The Canaveral Port Authority stresses that Sky Princess is the newest and largest Princess ship to call there, and it notes that Caribbean Princess is due to return in 2026 to share the Caribbean and Bahamian schedule, which means more cabin inventory for families trying to match school calendars to cruise dates.

For travelers, the real value is in how easy Port Canaveral is to reach. Drive in guests can approach from Interstate 95 or State Road 528 and park at or near the terminals. Flyers have a straightforward route, since most will land at Orlando International Airport, about an hour inland, then transfer by shared shuttle, private car, or rental. Princess also leans on its Rail and Sail program with Brightline, which lets guests connect from the Brightline station at Orlando International to and from South Florida cities such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach on the same ticket package as their cruise.

Background, Port Canaveral as a cruise gateway

Port Canaveral has quietly become one of the most important cruise hubs in North America over the past decade, serving as a major embarkation port for trips to the Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean, and the Western Caribbean. Its appeal comes from a combination of drive market access for large parts of Florida and the Southeastern United States, proximity to Orlando area theme parks, and a purpose built cruise terminal complex that can turn multiple large ships on the same day. The addition of Sky Princess means that Princess Cruises joins other large brands in using Port Canaveral for premium and mass market itineraries, rather than treating Central Florida only as a gateway for nearby ports like Port Everglades and PortMiami.

How Sky Princess changes the onboard experience

From a hardware perspective, Sky Princess is a step up in size and amenities compared with the previous Caribbean Princess deployment at the port. Sky Princess is a Royal Class ship with capacity for 3,660 guests and a tonnage of about 141,000, built in 2019 and designed around a mix of outdoor pool decks, upgraded specialty dining, and newer entertainment venues. The ship carries 1,830 guest cabins, the majority with balconies, and supports Princess features such as MedallionClass service, multi venue shows, and expanded casual dining like Alfredo s Pizzeria.

For travelers who care less about ship statistics and more about the day to day feel, the bigger takeaway is that Sky Princess offers more room for sea days, more choices for dining, and a broader menu of cabin types, including suites and mini suites that are often in short supply on peak holiday sailings. That extra capacity also gives Princess more flexibility to run promotions outside peak weeks while still filling the ship for school holidays and long weekends.

Who benefits most from the new schedule

The most obvious winners are Central Florida residents and drive market guests from Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, and other nearby states who can reach Port Canaveral in a day. They now have additional Princess capacity without having to fly into South Florida or Fort Lauderdale. Families can use the Sunday and Monday departures to build around school schedules, for example, leaving over a weekend and returning the next week without taking two full weeks off.

Flyers also gain new options. Orlando International Airport is a major hub for both domestic routes and some international services, so travelers from the Midwest, Northeast, and Canada can pair a non stop flight with a Port Canaveral cruise rather than connecting through Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Brightline Rail and Sail connectivity gives another path for those starting a Florida vacation in South Florida before heading north to the ship, or for travelers who want to spend time in Orlando before or after their cruise without renting a car.

There is also a broader fleet deployment angle. Earlier in 2025, Princess announced that it would cancel several months of Majestic Princess sailings from Galveston between November 2026 and March 2027 as part of a global deployment strategy, shifting that capacity to other markets. The decision to schedule a second Sky Princess season from Port Canaveral in the same November 2026 to March 2027 window signals that Central Florida is one of the beneficiaries of that strategy, with more winter capacity concentrated around Orlando instead of the western Gulf.

Planning tips for would be Sky Princess guests

In practical terms, travelers who want the widest choice of cabins and itineraries should look first at the December through early March window, when the full run of six and eight day cruises is available. Those planning holidays around Christmas, New Year s, or school breaks should expect the most popular 14 night back to back combinations to sell out first, particularly suites and balcony cabins on midship decks. Booking early also gives more time to coordinate Orlando flights, pre cruise hotel nights, and theme park visits without paying last minute premiums.

Given Florida s changeable winter weather, especially cold fronts that can bring wind and choppy seas in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, it is usually wise to plan at least one buffer night before departure if flying, and to avoid the very last domestic flight of the day into Orlando before a sailing. Separate tickets that combine low cost carriers with the cruise should be treated with caution, since Princess will not typically protect those connections if a standalone flight runs late.

Travelers who were previously eyeing Princess cruises from Galveston in late 2026 should take the time to re run their plans with Port Canaveral and other Florida ports in mind. For some, a direct drive to Texas may still be easier. For others, especially flyers, the combination of Orlando airlift, Brightline Rail and Sail access, and the newer Sky Princess hardware from Port Canaveral may outweigh the extra planning steps.

Sources

• Sky Princess Arrives at Port Canaveral as First Royal Class Ship to Sail from Central Florida
• Princess Cruises Sky Princess Fact Sheet
• Princess Cruises, Sky Princess Arrives at Port Canaveral
• Princess and Brightline Unveil New Rail and Sail Program
• Princess Cruises Cancels Five Months Of Trips Out Of Galveston, Citing New Global Strategy