Working at the peak of their professional careers, Kay Rogers and her girlfriends are so busy that they have to schedule social get-togethers five months in advance.
Money is also a factor when planning outings, said Rogers, a physical therapist on Cape Cod who used to struggle to pay the bills as a single mom and tries to stay out of debt. When her friends began planning their girls’ trip, Rogers, 56, was hesitant to drop cash on international flights.
For the first time in their lives, the friend group of former UMass Lowell classmates found themselves turning to cruises, specifically those embarking from Boston’s Flynn Cruiseport. Avoiding flights and hotels, they booked a seven-night round-trip vacation to Bermuda and Halifax, Nova Scotia, for $1,500 a person.
“Having a full life with work and family and obligations, the ease of cruises is really nice,” Rogers said. “I’ve been stuck in airports when my flight is canceled, so just taking the flight out of the picture makes it so easy.”
A range of economic and industry factors is leading more New Englanders like Rogers to cruise out of Boston this year compared to last. The local growth comes at a time when more people worldwide are cruising, with US travelers dominating the data. By the end of 2026, over 38 million people are expected to cruise worldwide, representing the biggest year in the industry’s history, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.
Across North America, the cruise business is booming post-COVID, and the rebound has been visible at Flynn Cruiseport in the Seaport, which began hosting the Norwegian Breakaway, the largest cruise ship to ever “homeport” in Boston, in April.
The 4,000-passenger ship has more than 20 dining options and expands NCL’s “capacity to meet growing demand” in Boston, said Tom Hamilton, the line’s chief planning officer.
Boston’s cruise season kicks into high gear in September and October, when seven-night NCL and Holland America itineraries provide views of peak fall foliage in Maine and Nova Scotia.
“The season seems to be getting longer and longer each year,” said Chris Zuffante, Flynn Cruiseport’s deputy director, adding that the leaf-peeping itineraries continue halfway through November.
Across all demographics, more travelers are choosing cruises over alternative modes of transportation to avoid sticker shock at the gas pump, or TSA- and air traffic control-related stresses, according to researchers at AAA. Many first-time cruisers are middle- and working-class travelers who prioritize trips leaving from their nearest port, said Christina Gannon, a field travel advisor with AAA Northeast.
“There definitely is a push for home port cruising because flights right now are just ridiculous,” Gannon said.
Just over 360,000 cruisers are expected to embark from Boston in 2026 compared to last year’s total of about 300,000, according to data from Massport, representing a 20 percent jump in bookings.
“Even with some of the challenges around travel and the economy, we’re still seeing great growth at the cruise terminal,” said Massport CEO Richard Davey in an interview.
First-time cruisers rolling suitcases and preparing to board the Breakaway at Flynn Cruiseport this summer said they heard about Boston-based itineraries from work colleagues who spoke enthusiastically about their vacation after returning to the office. Seasoned cruisers in the Boston area who chose to sail out of Flynn for the first time this year said they did so to avoid having to fly to Florida first.
“I got to wake up in my own bed this morning,” said Sophia Guilmette, who lives in Fitchburg with her mom and twin sister.
Other families, couples, and friend groups who stood in a boarding line on a Sunday afternoon in July said they overcame worries about seasickness and infectious disease, such as norovirus, to travel affordably to the island of Bermuda.
“I never thought I would do something like this, I’m actually kind of nervous,” said Jen Dowty, a teacher who joined her husband and his parents, who planned to trace some of their family’s Nova Scotian roots in Halifax.
Before hosting the Breakaway this year, the largest cruise ship to homeport at Flynn had around half the capacity, at 2,000.
“It was a very big step for us to accept the Breakaway, and as a result the port is a lot busier this year,” Zuffante said.
Massport, which oversees Flynn, upgraded the port’s wharf so that it could accommodate the Breakaway, according to infrastructure planning documents. The Breakaway’s larger capacity also meant a second passenger boarding bridge had to be added.
“It’s important to get folks off the ship as fast as possible, and then back on the ship as fast as possible, so the second gangway was a very important piece,” Zuffante said.
The infrastructure upgrades cost $8 million, and came online at the start of the summer, according to Massport planning documents.
More Canadians have also been cruising out of the United States in recent years, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. While there was a drop in the number of Canadians making return trips from the United States using auto or air travel, the number of Canadians sailing on cruises embarking from the United States jumped 5 percent, the CLIA said.
This summer, Holland America added several more weeks of its one-way cruises between Boston and Canada, in part to meet rising demand, said Paul Grigsby, a vice president for revenue planning and analytics who designs many of the line’s itineraries.
The seven-night open-loop cruise that ends in Quebec City visits Halifax for two days, then Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island before sailing past the Saguenay Fjord. Another itinerary departing Boston stops in Eastport, Maine, Halifax, Sydney, PEI, and Quebec City before sailing further down the St. Lawrence River to reach Montreal. Prices start around $1,300.
Holland America customers say the trips “scratch an itch” for “off-the-beaten-path travel,” Grigsby said. In 2026, nearly half of Holland America customers sailing out of Boston were new to the brand, the line said.
Savvy cruisers embrace Boston as a launching pad the same way many recognize Seattle’s two cruise terminals are the gateway for the Alaska cruises, Grigsby said.
“There are certain regions, certain places that are really best seen by ship, and Boston is strategically located,” Grigsby said.
While Grigsby’s Boston itineraries, which include 35-day cruises to Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, take years to design, vacationers can book their trips on short notice, including less than a week before departure.
Jennifer Pham, of Framingham, said cruising to Bermuda and Nova Scotia this July came down to a last-minute decision.
While Pham and her parents were hosting her sister from Atlanta for an extended visit, someone in the group suggested, apropos of nothing, that they all go on a cruise to Bermuda. Two weeks after the proposal, Pham, her husband, and their two teenage sons were boarding a cruise ship for the first time.
“We thought our first cruise would be great, and coming out of Boston, super convenient,” said Pham’s husband, Rob Antonio.
Carlos Miranda, a maintenance worker at Harvard University, said a colleague wouldn’t stop talking about his recent cruise after returning from vacation. Miranda and his wife decided to take the co-worker up on his recommendation in order to cruise for the first time and visit two countries they’d never seen before.
“We’re saving more money than if we got on an airplane, got a hotel, and paid for everything, including food,” said Miranda’s wife, Djamila.
When the Breakaway returned to Boston after eight days at sea, Rogers — the Cape Cod physical therapist who went on a girls’ trip — said her decision was a “no-brainer.”
“I can’t believe in all these years I never considered it,” Rogers said.
Claire Thornton can be reached at claire.thornton@globe.com. Follow Claire on X @claire_thornto.