Port Canaveral has started construction on a $95 million expansion and renovation of Cruise Terminal 10, a project designed to bring the facility up to the standard needed for the cruise industry's largest ships.
What's changing
The redeveloped terminal will grow to more than 145,000 square feet, roughly 30% larger than its current footprint, giving it the capacity to handle ships carrying as many as 6,700 passengers. Currently used by MSC Cruises and Disney Cruise Line, with Royal Caribbean ships also scheduled to berth there in the coming weeks, Cruise Terminal 10 sits at the port's west turning basin and isn't tied to any single cruise line, serving whichever ships need it.
Miami-based architecture firm Bermello Ajamil & Partners designed the new terminal, aiming for what officials describe as a more spacious, modern interior with a streamlined feel, colourful artwork, and a glass façade intended to bring in more natural light and soften the typically sterile feel of a transit hub. Beyond the cosmetic changes, the project also expands security screening and luggage handling areas to ease congestion, alongside new elevators and escalators, updated signage and upgraded HVAC systems. Orlando-based PCL Construction Services is carrying out the build.
Why now
Port Canaveral was ranked the world's busiest cruise port in 2025, and the terminal upgrade is intended to keep pace with a cruise industry that continues to deploy larger ships with higher passenger counts and more complex boarding requirements. The port currently serves as homeport to 18 ships across seven cruise brands, running more than 1,000 sailings a year, largely to the Caribbean and the Bahamas.
Port Canaveral CEO Captain John W. Murray said the port had drawn on everything it had learned about cruise operations to design a terminal that was both highly functional and visually appealing, adding that the port's cruise business investments were focused on making guest arrivals and departures comfortable and efficient, in support of the experience the port aims to deliver for its cruise line partners and their passengers.
Part of a much larger investment programme
The Terminal 10 project is one piece of the Port Canaveral Advantage, a capital improvement programme worth close to $1 billion covering facility upgrades, technology enhancements and other operational improvements across the port. It follows other recent work at the port, including progress on a new multi-storey parking garage and a separate expansion of Cruise Terminal 5.
Timeline and what to expect
Construction is expected to be completed by November 2027, though officials note that weather-related delays or other schedule adjustments remain possible over the roughly 15-month build. In the meantime, passengers sailing from Cruise Terminal 10 may notice temporary disruption: parts of the terminal could close at points during construction, and ships may occasionally be reassigned to a different terminal as work progresses.