Seattle cruise ship season sets sail, expected to bring $1.2B economic boost

The Port of Seattle is set to launch a record-breaking cruise season beginning Friday, with officials projecting the highest number of sailings and passengers in the port’s history.

The season, which runs through Oct. 11, is expected to include 330 vessel calls, as well as approximately 2.1 million revenue passengers -- the most in the port's history.

Two cruise lines will make their Seattle debut this year: MSC Cruises, with the MSC Poesia, and Virgin Voyages, with the Brilliant Lady.

In total, 16 ships will be homeported in Seattle during the season.

“Every time that ship docks they buy 4.5 million dollars of goods and services.” said Bob Donegan, the President of Ivar's, who is also a member of the Historic Waterfront Association.

Donegan says that the association predicts over 8 million people will visit the Waterfront, and that visitation will be up by 30% due to the FIFA World Cup, and additional traffic from the Mariners coinciding with the elevated cruise season.

“This will be the busiest summer Seattle has had in recent history. We’re happy about that," he added.

Miners Landing, a major tourist hub along the Waterfront, is also excited for the forecasted traffic this summer.

“Cruise season kind of kicks off the official like, It’s ready to go time," said Nic Eames, the Director of Operations for Miners Landing.

He says that the completion of the years-long Waterfront construction, which concluded last summer with the opening of Pier 58 adjacent to Miners Landing, will be a key contributor to welcoming in the large crowds.

"We're really looking forward to kind of seeing the culmination of all the works that been done to getting this area and the Waterfront, ready to go, and really become a tourist destination, and we're happy to play our small part in it." Eames said.

Port officials say that an analysis of the 2025 cruise season showed $1.2 billion in local economic impact with support for roughly 5,120 direct and indirect jobs across the region.

Environmental measures remain a key focus as well.

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.

The port plans to require all homeported vessels to use shore power starting in 2027.

In 2025, 87% of shore power–capable vessels connected to clean power via Seattle City Light while at berth, avoiding an estimated 6,444 metric tons of CO2.

The Port of Seattle said in a statement:

As the 2026 season begins, the Port looks forward to welcoming passengers, cruise partners, local businesses, and maritime workers to another successful year on Seattle’s waterfront.