The Port of Palm Beach is a small, single-terminal cruise port in Riviera Beach, Florida. These days it’s home to Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, running short hops to Nassau, Freeport and Key West. One terminal building, a strict boarding cutoff, and parking rules that shift around depending on what the construction crews are up to. Worth getting your head round the basics before you leave the house.
Palm Beach International Airport, PBI for short, is the closest airport to the port, about 20 minutes away by road. That makes it the obvious pick if you’re flying in on the morning of your cruise or bedding down nearby the night before. If PBI doesn’t fit your flights, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Miami International are both options too, but budget well over an hour extra on the drive for either one.
Where is the Port of Palm Beach, and what’s it like?
The port sits in Riviera Beach, inside Palm Beach County, and it’s a working harbour first, handling cargo alongside cruise passengers rather than being built for one or the other. Port data reported via Wikipedia puts cruise passenger numbers at close to 450,000 in a single year. Small by Florida standards, sure, but nowhere near quiet.
The terminal itself is one building, around 40,000 square feet, with baggage handling and federal inspection, run by US Customs and Border Protection, on the ground floor, and check-in upstairs. That layout matters more than you’d think on the day: drive up, drop your bags at ground level, then head upstairs to check in.
Palm Beach cruise port at a glance
| Detail | What to know |
|---|---|
| Location | Riviera Beach, Florida, within Palm Beach County |
| Terminal | One building, around 40,000 square feet, baggage and customs downstairs, check-in above |
| Current cruise line | Margaritaville at Sea Paradise |
| Sailings | Three and four night cruises to Nassau, Freeport and Key West |
| Closest airport | Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), roughly 20 minutes away |
| Parking | Self-parking, and valet when it’s running, both operated by the port |
Getting to the terminal by road
Coming off I-95 North, take Exit 76 for Blue Heron Boulevard, head east past Old Dixie Highway until you hit US 1 (Broadway), turn right and go south to 11th Street, then left onto 11th Street itself, where the terminal and its office complex sit at the road’s end. Simple enough on paper. 11th Street is short though, and it’s easy to sail straight past it if you’re not paying attention.
Parking at Port of Palm Beach: what you need to know
Parking here comes in two flavours, self-parking and valet, but which one is running on your travel day is a bit of a lottery. This is the one real logistical snag at this port. The port’s own site lists both self-park and VIP valet as standing options. Margaritaville at Sea’s site says valet only. A third-party parking site notes valet gets suspended during construction work. Three sources, three different answers. The fix is simple even if the answer isn’t: check directly with the port or your cruise line in the days before you travel, and leave yourself extra time in case you end up self-parking and walking further than you’d planned.
| Option | Availability | Relative cost | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-parking | The usual default | Standard daily rate, covering arrival to departure day | Secured, patrolled lot with a pedestrian walkway to the terminal |
| Valet | First come, first served, not guaranteed, sometimes paused for construction | A little more than self-parking | Confirm it’s running before you rely on it |
| Disabled Veteran plates or adapted vehicles | Same self-parking lot | Fee waived | Applies to vehicles with a DV plate or specialised driving equipment such as ramps or hand controls |
Security at the lot runs round the clock, cameras covering the parking area day and night, and the port’s also rolled out facial recognition at departure to speed returning passengers through disembarkation.
Checking in and boarding Margaritaville at Sea Paradise
The terminal opens at 9:30am on embarkation day and the doors shut at 3pm sharp. After that, you’re not getting on board, full stop, not a rough guideline. Turn up late and you’re logged as a no show, which drags the cancellation policy’s penalties into it. Build real slack into your plans around this one.
Your arrival window lands by email and sits in the Cruise Control Guest Portal in the weeks before you sail. Print the boarding pass rather than trusting a phone screen. Turn up without one, or before your assigned slot, and you’re routed through a separate Standby Check-In Lane, which can mean waiting.
This is a small terminal with no lounge and no indoor waiting space, so early arrivals wait outside, rain or shine. A packable lightweight waterproof rain jacket earns its keep in your hand luggage if you get caught out there ahead of your window, and hard-sided carry-on luggage with smooth-rolling wheels makes life easier too, since you can wheel it straight through the standby lane if your plans change. If you’re miles early, there’s a casual restaurant about five minutes’ walk from the port, handy for killing time without dragging bags around.
Hotels near the Port of Palm Beach cruise terminal
Nothing’s built directly onto the port itself, so staying nearby the night before really means picking a hotel somewhere in wider Riviera Beach or West Palm Beach. A few things to check before you book:
- Whether the hotel runs a shuttle to the terminal, since there’s no on-site accommodation
- Distance to Palm Beach International Airport, useful if you’re flying in the evening before
- A cancellation or late check-out policy that accounts for the terminal’s strict 3pm boarding cutoff
- Easy access to Blue Heron Boulevard or US 1, the main routes used to reach 11th Street
How far is Key West from the Port of Palm Beach?
There isn’t one clean answer here. Different route calculators put the drive anywhere from around four hours twenty minutes up to just over five hours twenty minutes, depending on how they measure the roughly 185 to 230 mile route down US 1. Treat any figure you see, including this one, as an estimate rather than a promise, and lean towards the longer end of that range if you’re timing a return drive around the ship’s schedule.
Which cruise line sails from the Port of Palm Beach?
The port’s current resident is Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, the ship you might remember as Grand Classica before Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line teamed up with Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville brand and gave it a refurb and a rename. It runs three and four night sailings to Freeport and Key West, and Nassau, Bahamas has more recently joined the rotation too. A two-week dry dock in Freeport refreshed all 658 staterooms, the dining venues and the Euphoria Lounge before the ship came back into service at Palm Beach.
One thing to flag: the port’s own website still has older content on it, naming the Grand Celebration and a separate casino cruise line as operators, neither of which is accurate any more. If you’re checking cruise line details on the port’s site itself, take that page with a pinch of salt and cross-reference with the cruise line’s own booking information instead.
Common Questions
What time does the terminal open on embarkation day?
9:30am open, 3pm sharp for doors closing. Turn up after 3pm and you’re not getting on, so aim to land comfortably inside your assigned window rather than cutting it fine.
Is valet parking always available?
No. It’s first come, first served, never guaranteed, and sometimes suspended altogether during construction work. Check with the port directly rather than assuming it’ll be there on your travel day.
Is the self-parking fee ever waived?
Yes, if your vehicle displays a Disabled Veteran plate, or has specialised equipment fitted, like ramps, lifts, or hand or foot controls for a disabled driver.
How do I find out my assigned boarding time?
It comes by email and shows up in the Cruise Control Guest Portal in the weeks before you sail. Print the boarding pass instead of relying on your phone, since that’s what confirms your arrival window at the terminal.
What’s the closest airport to the Port of Palm Beach?
Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), around 20 minutes away by road. It’s the practical option for flying in on the day of your cruise, or bedding down nearby the night before.
Are there shops or a lounge inside the terminal?
No. It’s a small terminal, light on amenities, with no dedicated indoor waiting space, so early arrivals wait outside rather than in a lounge somewhere.
Which cruise line currently sails from this port?
Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, running three and four night sailings to Nassau, Freeport and Key West. Some older listings elsewhere still mention a different operator, but that’s out of date now.
How long is the drive from the port to Key West?
Estimates run from around four hours twenty minutes to just over five hours twenty, depending which route calculator you trust. Treat it as a rough guide and pad extra time onto the return leg.
Why Trust About2Cruise
This guide leans on the port’s own published information, Margaritaville at Sea’s arrival guidance, and independent reporting to fill the gaps where those sources disagreed with each other, rather than picking one and hoping for the best. We haven’t sailed from this terminal ourselves, and we’ve flagged the spots where official sources conflict so you can double-check before you travel. You can read more about our approach to research and accuracy on the About2Cruise about us page.
Last Updated: 25 September 2026