Manila, Philippines Cruise Ship Port Guide

If your ship is calling at Manila, you’ll be docking at Pier 15 in South Harbor, inside the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal, the newest and largest cruise facility the country has. It’s a short taxi ride from the walled city of Intramuros, which is why Manila tends to be one of the easier Philippine ports to make the most of in a few hours ashore.

Nearly every large international ship sailing a Philippines itinerary uses this one berth, so a cruise call in Manila almost always means Pier 15. If you’ve come looking for a Manila Bay dinner cruise, that’s a different evening out altogether, on a much smaller boat, and we’ll get to exactly where that one boards further down.

Pier 15 is Manila’s international cruise terminal

Pier 15 is in Manila South Harbor, in the Port Area, and you get there by road along Bonifacio Drive. The terminal building itself, the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal, sits between Piers 13 and 15 and is the biggest and newest passenger terminal in the country, built with the largest ships calling at the Philippines in mind.

It also doubles as the main hub for 2GO, the domestic ferry operator, so you’ll be sharing the building with local ferry traffic as well as international arrivals. The Philippine Ports Authority, the state-owned body that runs most of the country’s ports, operates it.

Star Cruises’ SuperStar Aquarius was the first ship through the doors, over a decade ago, and international calls have carried on ever since. These days the terminal regularly takes medium to large ships carrying somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000 passengers, a mix of nationalities from China, Europe and the United States, according to the Philippine Ports Authority. Cruise passenger numbers through Philippine ports have climbed sharply too, up 71.32% year-on-year to 150,903 on the same figures, and Pier 15 takes the bulk of that traffic as the country’s main gateway for international cruise ships.

South Harbor and North Harbor are not the same port

There’s a lot of confusing information floating around about which pier is which, so let’s sort out the two harbours properly. They sit in different parts of the city and handle completely different kinds of traffic.

Some listings claim North Harbor handles everything, ferries and cruise ships alike, but the Philippine Ports Authority and the cruise lines themselves confirm international arrivals use Pier 15 in South Harbor. If anyone tells you you’re berthing at North Harbor, check with your cruise line before you plan your day around it.

Checking which ship is docked in Manila today

There’s no official live board telling you which ship is sitting at Pier 15 on any given day. Published cruise schedules list Manila port calls, but they don’t always agree with each other.

The workaround is to check two tracker sites against your own cruise line’s app or final documents, since the trackers are unofficial and can lag behind changes to the schedule. Two international ships have docked at Pier 15 on the same day before, with Philippine Ports Authority figures showing around 4,000 foreign tourists moving through the terminal at once.

When that happens, the queue for taxis and Grab cars at the pier exit gets a lot longer. Build in extra time if you’ve got a set time to be back on board, because Manila traffic has no idea which ship you’re sailing on and cares even less.

Getting from Pier 15 to Intramuros by taxi or Grab

Taxis and ride-sharing cars wait right at the pier exit, and the simplest option for most people is a metered taxi or Grab, the ride-hailing app everyone in Manila uses, which shows you a fixed price before you book. A portable charger earns its place in your day bag here, because nothing ruins the plan like your phone dying mid-booking.

The walled city of Intramuros, home to Fort Santiago and San Agustin Church, is only five to ten minutes away by road. The streets there get busy with tourists and local traffic alike, so an anti theft messenger bag is a sensible way to carry your phone, cash and camera without making yourself an easy target.

A permanent terminal is planned, but Pier 15 stays a working pier for now

The Philippine Ports Authority has drawn up a multi-billion-peso blueprint for a permanent international cruise terminal, and construction could start within the following year, provided the agency secures the site for the landside building. Once it’s built, it’s meant to replace the temporary set-up currently handling cruise arrivals.

Until then, don’t expect much at Pier 15 itself. As one Philippine Ports Authority official told local press, a pier is a pier, not a tourist destination, and it’s cargo and passenger infrastructure rather than anywhere designed for comfort, so shops, lounges and seating are thin on the ground.

Cruise lines and ships calling at Manila

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea are among the lines that call here regularly, drawn by Manila’s heritage sites and reputation for hospitality. Carnival Panorama’s arrival at the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal was Carnival Cruise Line’s first ever visit to the Philippines, part of a 25 day Transpacific Carnival Journeys sailing from Singapore to Long Beach, California.

Published schedules also list expected calls from Silversea’s Silver Muse, P&O Cruises’ Arcadia, Cunard’s Queen Victoria, Oceania Cruises’ Riviera and Vista, Regent Seven Seas Explorer and Holland America Line’s Westerdam, though these dates shift season to season, so confirm with your cruise line closer to travel. For how Manila fits into wider regional sailings, our guide to cruise ports across Asia is worth a look, and several of these same itineraries carry on to our guide to Malaysia’s cruise ports.

Costa Serena’s round trip sailings from Manila

Costa Serena, one of Costa Cruises’ larger ships, normally sails Europe and South America, but has offered chartered round trips from Manila in recent seasons, stopping across North Asia along the way. Four routes have been published for these sailings.

• 7 days, 6 nights: Manila, Miyakojima, Keelung, Kaohsiung, Manila
• 7 days, 6 nights: Manila, Ishigaki, Keelung, Manila
• 11 days, 10 nights: Manila, Keelung, Fukuoka, Jeju Island, Manila
• 8 days, 7 nights: Manila, Naha, Kaohsiung, Manila, added later due to demand

These sailings typically exclude the Philippine travel tax, port charges collected either in Manila or through your booking travel agency, and a Japan tourist arrival fee paid on board. Routes and seasons change, so confirm the current itinerary with Costa Cruises or your travel agent before you book. For how Costa Serena fits among the line’s other ships, our overview of Costa Cruises’ ships and itineraries covers the wider fleet.

Carnival Cruise Line’s Manila office is not a passenger ticket counter

Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Carnival Cruise Line, lists an office presence in Manila on its own careers site. It’s a back office and crewing operation, not a guest-facing ticket counter, so it’s not somewhere to turn up with a booking query.

Cruise Administration Services Inc., Carnival’s Manila back office, and Open Sea Crewing Agency Inc., Carnival Cruise Line’s authorised manning agency in the Philippines, both took part in Carnival Panorama’s inaugural Manila call. Open Sea is based at 2818 EDSA Extension, corner P. Celle, San Rafael, Pasay City, though that address deals with crew recruitment, not passenger services.

For booking changes, cancellations or anything else guest-related, go through your travel agent or Carnival’s global head office at 3655 NW 87th Avenue, Miami, FL 33178, USA, rather than either of the Manila addresses above.

Manila Bay dinner cruises board at a different pier entirely

A Manila Bay dinner cruise is a shore excursion, an organised evening trip booked separately from your main cruise, and it has nothing to do with Pier 15. It runs on a smaller dining yacht out on the bay rather than one of the ocean liners using the international terminal.

These trips typically run two to four hours, with sunset, mid-evening and night departures on offer. Boarding usually happens at the Cultural Center of the Philippines or at the Esplanade Seaside terminal within the SM Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City, depending on the operator.

If you’re docked at Pier 15 and fancy this as a one-off evening out, book your pickup in advance. These boats run to their own fixed departure times, not around your ship’s schedule, so turning up late buys you nothing but a missed boat.

Common Questions

Where do cruise ships dock in Manila? At Pier 15, in Manila’s South Harbor, inside the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal. You get there by road along Bonifacio Drive.

Is Pier 15 the same thing as the Manila cruise terminal? Yes. The Eva Macapagal Super Terminal, the Philippines’ largest passenger terminal, is the building at Pier 15 that handles the international cruise arrivals.

Can I find out if a cruise ship is in Manila today? There’s no official live tracker. Third-party sites publish schedules, but it’s worth cross-checking two of them against your own cruise line’s documents.

How far is Intramuros from the cruise terminal? Fort Santiago and San Agustin Church in Intramuros are around five to ten minutes away by taxi or Grab from the pier exit.

Does Carnival have a guest office in Manila? No. Carnival’s Manila presence is a back office and crewing agency, not a ticket counter, so guest queries go through your travel agent or Carnival’s Miami head office instead.

Is the Manila Bay dinner cruise the same as my cruise ship? No. It’s a separate shore excursion on a smaller boat, usually boarding at the Cultural Center of the Philippines or the Esplanade Seaside terminal in Pasay City.

Does Costa Serena always sail round trip from Manila? No. Costa Serena normally sails Europe and South America, and only offers chartered round trips from Manila in some seasons.

Will Pier 15 be replaced by a new terminal? The Philippine Ports Authority has a blueprint for a permanent cruise terminal, but Pier 15 stays the working pier until that project gets built.

What happens when two ships are in Manila on the same day? The taxi and Grab queue at the pier exit gets a lot busier, since the terminal has handled around 4,000 passengers from two ships docking together before.

Why Trust About2Cruise

This guide draws on Philippine Ports Authority reporting, licensed cruise and ports industry press, and published cruise line and operator schedules, all cross-checked against each other rather than taken from a single source. Details such as terminal names, pier numbers and route patterns get updated as operators publish new information.

You can read more about how we research and fact-check our port guides on our about us page.