Cozumel, Mexico is such a busy port with three different cruise terminals with berths for at least eight ships and the ability for additional ships to anchor and tender in. I've heard they can handle ten ships at this port! So the question is often asked, how do you know where your ship will dock? I have to admit, I spent a lot of time this past year trying to figure out the answer to this question in advance of each cruise I had that included a port stop in Cozumel. Let me try to give you some insight in this post.
Cozumel has three cruise terminals:
Puerta Maya Pier is primarily used by Carnival Corporation ships including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Aida Cruises, Seaborn Cruises, etc. It is the furthest from downtown San Miguel de Cozumel and can hold up to four ships at once. The Carnival Ecstasy is parked in the southern-most berth of this pier in the photo above.
International Pier is primarily used by Royal Caribbean Group ships, including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silverseas Cruises. It can hold up to two ships at once.
Punta Langosta Pier is the pier located right downtown San Miguel de Cozumel making it easy to walk to all the downtown shops and restaurants. This is where all of the rest of the cruise lines generally dock plus any overflow ships when the International Pier or Puerta Maya pier is full. It can hold up to two large cruise ships at once.
In the map below, the Punta Langosta Pier is towards the top near the gray marker for Cozumel Mexico. This is also the downtown San Miguel de Cozumel area. The International Pier is at the red marker and the Puerta Maya Pier is immediately next to the International Pier (to the southwest).
Sometimes, when the International Pier or the Puerta Maya Pier are full, ships that don't normally dock downtown, dock at the Punta Langosta Pier. On the day of the photo below the Celebrity Edge and the Oasis of the Seas occupied both berths at the International Pier and so as pictured the Celebrity Infinity and Celebrity Constellation had to dock at Punta Langosta. On that same day, the Carnival Conquest was docked at the Puerta Maya Pier as scheduled and due to re-routing from the Bahamas because of Hurricane Nicole (2022), the Carnival Liberty and Disney Wish also docked at the Puerta Maya Pier.
You will notice in the photo below the Scarlet Lady is anchored next to the Punta Langosta Pier. She also was not expected and had to detour from the Bahamas due to the Hurricane. Her tenders docked on the Punta Langosta Pier.
To give you an idea of distance, the photo below was taken from the Celebrity Constellation (while parked at Punta Langosta as shown in the photo above) looking towards the International Pier where the Celebrity Edge and Oasis of the Seas are docked. You can also see the Carnival Conquest in the distance approaching the Puerta Maya Pier. The Carnival Liberty and Disney Wish are already docked at Puerta Maya but hidden by the Oasis of the Seas.
Here are a few more photos of the different piers.
So I've explained which terminals each cruise line normally uses and that there can be exceptions, but how do you know if your ship will dock at its normal terminal? Here are some tips.
Find out how many ships will be in port and of which cruise lines. Cruisemapper has both a website and an app that I really like but it isn't the only source. Vesselfinder is another option and there likely are many more. Locate the port of Cozumel on whatever website or app you are using and look for a schedule for that port. This is your starting place. If there aren't more ships of your cruise line's group than their pier can handle (two for Royal Caribbean Group, four for Carnival Corp, two for all other cruise lines), then it is highly likely you will dock at the normal terminal.
Royal Caribbean Group ships use Puerta Langosta when the International Pier is full. Although this may not be a general rule, it seems Royal Caribbean Oasis class and Celebrity Edge class ships get priority at the International Pier.
If there are more ships in port than the berths can handle, then look at your itinerary from the cruise line. Many times they will indicate if it is a tender port. For example, when too many ships are in port, NCL often tenders and they usually indicate that on their itinerary.
If steps 1 and 2 don't give you the answer, here are two more resources. Puerta Maya Schedule - This schedule is just for the Carnival Corp pier, Puerta Maya but shows ship schedules several months into the future. Cozumel Insider Weekly Schedule - Unfortunately, this schedule only shows the current week but it does list which pier each ship will be at.
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