Caribbean Journey
Jamaica Built a $220 Million Cruise Port... And It's Coming for Miami by 2027
Jamaica has won the World's Leading Cruise Destination award five consecutive years. Its tourism sector generated four point three billion US dollars in 2024. And quietly, across five separate ports, the island has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to cruise infrastructure designed to compete directly with Miami for homeporting business by 2027.
This video breaks down the full story from the most expensive single cruise port development in Caribbean history, built in the historic town of Falmouth at a cost of over two hundred and twenty million US dollars in partnership with Royal Caribbean International, to the forty million dollar floating pier at Port Royal, the active berth expansions in Montego Bay, the three-hundred-and-twenty-million-dollar container terminal contract awarded in Kingston in 2025, and what all of it means for the Caribbean cruise industry as Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC, Princess, and Norwegian redistribute their 2027 deployment schedules.
PortMiami processed eight point two three million cruise passengers in fiscal year 2024 the highest annual total ever recorded. Jamaica processed one point four million across five ports in the same period. The gap is real. So is the infrastructure commitment on Jamaica's side, and so is the structural shift opening in the 2027 cruise deployment cycle.
We cover the economics of homeporting versus port-of-call visits, the leakage problem Jamaica's own Tourism Minister named publicly, the credit-rated Port Authority that is executing this campaign, and the historical context of Falmouth a town that had the first piped water supply system in the Western Hemisphere in 1799 and sat dormant for nearly two centuries before Royal Caribbean co-invested two hundred and twenty million dollars to bring it back.
This is not a promotional piece. It is a factual, documented account of one of the most significant maritime infrastructure campaigns in the Caribbean told through verified investment figures, signed contracts, named sources, and industry data.
KEY FIGURES AND ORGANISATIONS REFERENCED
Port Authority of Jamaica — PAJ Chairman Alok Jain — PAJ President and CEO Professor Gordon Shirley — Jamaica Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett — Jamaica Director of Tourism Donovan White — Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Jason Liberty — Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President of Land Operations Craig Milan — PortMiami Director and CEO Hydi Webb — Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava — Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association — World Travel Awards — World Cruise Awards — Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited — CMA CGM — CMA Terminal Holdings — China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd. — New Fortress Energy — Jamaica Tourist Board — Jamaica Information Service7
⬛ LEGAL DISCLAIMER
This video is produced for educational and informational purposes only. All figures, statistics, dates, names, and claims presented are sourced from publicly available government publications, institutional reports, industry bodies, and established media organisations, as listed above. Caribbean Journey makes no representation regarding the future performance of any port, tourism sector, company, or economy referenced in this video. Investment figures and development timelines referenced reflect information available at the time of production and are subject to change. This video does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or commercial advice of any kind. Caribbean Journey is an independent content creator and has no commercial relationship with any government body, cruise line, port authority, or organisation mentioned in this video. All opinions expressed represent the editorial position of Caribbean Journey based on publicly available information. Viewers are encouraged to consult primary sources before drawing conclusions or making decisions based on the content of this video.
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Published Jun 29, 2026