What to know about Boston’s 2022 cruise season

It's the first full cruise season in two years.

The Norwegian Pearl cruise ship. Massport

April 8, 2022

2 minutes to read

Boston welcomed its first cruise ship this week, launching the city’s first full cruise season in two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl arrived at Flynn Cruiseport Boston on Monday, the ship’s homeport through November. The ship will make weekly sailings between Boston and Bermuda this year.

Massport says it is expecting a “robust” cruise season, which runs from April to November. The last time Boston saw a full cruise season was in 2019, when it served a record 402,346 passengers on 138 ships, according to Massport.

“We are delighted to welcome our cruise partners back to Boston and support the recovery of the travel and tourism industry in the City and the Commonwealth,” Massport CEO Lisa Wieland said in a statement.

The cruise industry brings $135.5 million annually and supports 2,200 jobs, according to Massport, and this year Boston will welcome 125 ships from 19 cruise lines and Flynn Cruiseport Boston will welcome 12 maiden calls.

Massport has installed a state-of-the-art passenger boarding bridge at the cruise terminal in preparation for the rebound in cruising, which allows Flynn Cruiseport Boston to welcome larger ships.

For the first time, four cruise lines will offer five homeport ships and voyages at Flynn Cruiseport Boston: Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl begins April 4; Holland America’s Zaandam begins May 15 and Nieuw Statendam begins Aug. 3; Celebrity Cruises’s Celebrity Summit begins Aug. 31; and Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager of the Seas begins Sept. 18.

New Boston itineraries this year include two October trips: a 12-day one-way cruise on Celebrity’s Celebrity Summit from Boston to the Caribbean and a 10-day cruise along the East Coast and ending in Nassau, Bahamas, on Vantage Cruise Line’s Ocean Explorer, according to Massport.

Here’s a list of cruise ships sailing from Boston this year and their destinations: