2025 is shaping into a banner year for Port of Kaohsiung’s cruise vacation sector, with the 107 international cruise ship calls scheduled for this year set to nearly double last year’s total of 59 calls. The 71 international cruise ship calls scheduled for the second half of 2025, including 34 homeport voyages and 37 port-of-call visits, will bring over 100,000 passengers to the port, infusing new energy and opportunity into southwest Taiwan’s tourism sector and showing the fruits of a multiyear effort to build interest and excitement in Kaohsiung within the global cruise industry.
Costa Cruises’ Costa Serena and Star Cruises’ Star Navigator are setting the pace for homeport cruises in 2025 with respective voyages northward to Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture (Naha City, Ishigaki Island, and Miyako Island) and southward to Vietnam (Da Nang and H? Long Bay) and the Philippines (Laoag City, Coron Island, Puerto Princesa, and Boracay). Moreover, the latter is an entirely new route for Kaohsiung-based homeport cruises, with the new destinations expanding the options for Taiwan cruise market. Looking ahead, Port of Kaohsiung will continue to flex its advantages and opportunities as the maritime gateway to and from sunny southern Taiwan. This diversification is expected to attract more cruise lines to utilize Kaohsiung Port for varied cruise deployments in the future.
In the port-of-call column, the extended list of cruise ships scheduled to visit Port of Kaohsiung later this year include StarCruises’ Star Voyager, MOL’s Mitsui Ocean Fuji, Oceania Cruises’ Riviera, NCL’s Norwegian Spirit, Seabourn Cruise Line’s Seabourn Quest, NCL’s Norwegian Sun, and NYK Cruises’ Asuka 2. The Mitsui Ocean Fuji will make its maiden call at Kaohsiung on September 25th. The Asuka 2 will arrive in port on December 30th and remain at berth for several days to ring the New Year in for the very first time in the city. The number of Japan-based cruise voyages scheduled to call at Kaohsiung is slated to expand further next year (2026), evidencing the significant strategic effort the Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) has invested in encouraging Japanese cruise liners to establish and increase their Taiwan calls.
To help further fuel growth in Taiwan’s cruise business development, TIPC has actively promoted its ports and Taiwan as a destination. In April 2025, TIPC jointly attended Seatrade Cruise Global 2025 in Miami with the Taiwan Tourism Administration. In addition to one-on-one meetings with major players including Holland America, Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises, Carnival Corp., Seabourn Cruise Line, NCL, MSC Cruises, Windstar Cruises, the Royal Caribbean Group, and Disney Cruise Line, TIPC promoted its port facilities, in-country tourism attractions, and incentives for cruise ship operators to exhibition attendees. TIPC’s presence at the world’s largest gathering of cruise industry professionals attracted significant cruise ship operator attention and helped fuel overall interest in adding Taiwan to cruise itinerary development and expansion plans.
Also, in May of this year, TIPC President Chin-jung Wang led his team to Japan, visiting Carnival Japan, Mitsui Ocean Lines (MOL) Cruises, and NYK Cruises; promoting Taiwan’s port facilities and resources and port-city tourism attractions; encouraging Japanese lines to include Kaohsiung on regular cruise routes; and strengthening bilateral ties and communications with Japan’s cruise market.
Beyond these and other initiatives designed to raise international cruise line interest in and calls at Kaohsiung, the port continues to strengthen its physical and service passenger-handling infrastructures and raise cruise ship reception and service quality with the goal of creating a world-class operating environment for the cruise ship industry. Moreover, the port is working closely with local government agencies to market Kaohsiung's tourism, allowing visitors from near and far to experience the city’s rich cultural, historical, and culinary charms; maximizing Kaohsiung’s value to cruise line passengers and operators, and fueling economic growth and prosperity across the area.
Provided by：Stevedoring & Warehousing Dept., Port of Kaohsiung, TIPC
Contact Person：Pei-ling Lin, Supervisor
Telephone No.：07-5219000 ext. 5910
E-mail Address：peiling@twport.com.tw
Image 1. The Italian-themed Costa Serena is set to depart on multiple Kaohsiung-based homeport cruise voyages starting in October
Image 2. The Star Navigator will launch its maiden homeport voyage from Kaohsiung on November 16th with stops in Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines (photo credit: StarCruises)
Image 3. The Mitsui Ocean Fuji will be making its maiden call at Port of Kaohsiung on September 25th (photo credit: Mitsui Ocean Lines)
Image 4. The Asuka 2 will arrive at Port of Kaohsiung on December 30th and remain at berth through all of the port’s New Year’s festivities (photo credit: Tsuneo Nakamura [photographer] and NYK Cruises)
