Full steam ahead! Cruises are becoming increasingly popular in Germany. The German cruise market reached a new record last year: around 1.51 million passengers took an ocean cruise departing from German ports on the North and Baltic Seas. This is shown by a recent Statista analysis based on data from the Federal Statistical Office.
According to the data, 20 years ago only 191,000 people from Germany went on ocean cruises. Over time, this number increased significantly. In 2019, a record of 1.32 million passengers was reached for the first time. Due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the market then collapsed: in 2020, only 54,000 passengers started an ocean cruise from Germany.
From 2022 onwards, the industry recovered again. Today, the market has not only returned to pre-crisis levels but has surpassed them. In 2025, passenger numbers increased by a further 4.1% compared to 2024.
Top 3 German cruise ports with the highest passenger numbers in 2025 (self-reported figures):
- #1 Hamburg with 1,416,715 passengers
- #2 Kiel with 1,106,505 passengers
- #3 Rostock-Warnemünde with 592,000 passengers
Most popular travel destinations in 2025 for German cruise passengers (German Travel Association):
- North Sea (37%)
- Western Mediterranean (20%)
- Atlantic including the Canary Islands, Madeira, Cape Verde, Azores, and Portugal (14%)
In 2024, every sixth cruise passenger in the EU (16.6%) departed from a German port, ranking Germany third in Europe. Italy (28.4%) and Spain (22.3%) ranked higher.
Internationally, the market is dominated by the United States, where 22.1 million passengers took ocean cruises in 2025 according to CLIA. Port Canaveral in Florida recorded 8.6 million passenger movements, making it one of the busiest cruise ports worldwide.
However, Europe leads in shipbuilding: 98% of ocean-going cruise ships are built in Europe, according to CLIA.
