Cruise Ships Resume Sailing from Port of Baltimore After Bridge Collapse

Cruise ships are once again sailing out of Baltimore, just a couple months after a deadly bridge collapse causing voyages to change course.

The port, which shut down in March following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, welcomed Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas on Sunday, followed by the Carnival Pride on Monday. The Vision of the Seas sailed a 5-night voyage to Bermuda, while the Carnival Pride embarked on a 14-day voyage to Greenland and Canada.

“Just a week ago, this terminal was being utilized as an incident command post. In one week, it’s been transformed back to starting out that guest experience,” Jonathan Daniels, the director for the Port of Baltimore, said in a video posted to X as cruisers got ready to board the Royal Caribbean ship in the background. “[The] Port of Baltimore is back — cruising is back. It’s absolutely great to be able to welcome everybody here.”

The sailings come just days after the Port of Baltimore officially reopened the channel following the refloat and removal of the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge. The channel now has a depth of 50 feet and a horizontal clearance of 400 feet.

The port is home to three major lines: Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival were forced to reroute their ships after the bridge collapsed in the early hours of the morning on March 26.

Norwegian, which first launched cruises from the Maryland port last year, previously told Travel + Leisure the company wasn’t scheduled to return to the port until September. 

While smaller than some other homeports, Baltimore hosted 444,000 passengers on cruises out of the city’s port in 2023, according to the government. The port also brings in more than $63 million to Maryland’s economy and is responsible for 400 jobs.