The latest cruise passenger and air arrival statistics released by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism indicate that a strong fourth quarter will be needed if the numbers are to surpass those of 2024.
Stayover arrivals in September were 12,929, down 2.8% compared to 2024. However, for the year through the first three quarters, they’re still up 2.4% – 338,385 versus 330,514 –compared to last year.
Cruise arrivals in September were up 9.3% over 2025, with 37,578 arrivals this year compared to 34,368 last year. However, through the first three quarters of the year, cruise arrivals are down 15,323 – 1.9% – compared to last year.
September and October have historically been the two months with the least amount of tourism arrivals, both in terms of cruise and air arrivals. Cruise arrival figures for this October, when they are released next month, will be impacted by the fact that numerous cruise ships cancelled calls on Grand Cayman due to Hurricane Melissa. Port Authority of the Cayman Islands records show that seven ships missed their call during the last week of the month, a number that represented 35% of the 20 expected cruise ship calls for October.
When looking at the combined cruise and air arrivals through the first three quarters of 2025, the numbers are very similar to those over the first nine months of last year. A combined 1,115,942 people have visited the Cayman Islands through September this year, only 0.66% fewer than the 1,123,394 who visited through the first three quarters of last year.
Rebound expected
Despite cruise arrivals being slightly down in numbers through the first three quarters of 2025 and the cancelled calls in October, there’s still a good chance the numbers for this year will surpass those of 2024. The Port Authority cruise ship schedules for November and December show a potential of more than 291,000 arrivals, far above the 228,007 that came ashore over the last two months of last year.
In addition, as reported in the Compass last month, advance cruise ship scheduling indicates a strong rebound in cruise arrivals is coming in 2026 and 2027.
Related Videos
