It was a banner week in San Juan for the San Sebastian Street Festival in January, with 35,000 cruise passengers in town from 11 ships.

Bouncing back just weeks after Hurricane Maria hit the island hard, San Juan saw 80,000 homeport passengers in November and December, according to Carla Campos, acting executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.

“Following the hurricanes, the cruise business is back and stronger than ever,” Campos said.

Homeporting business is up to 14 vessels from 10 year-over-year, she said. Campos is even more excited about next season, 2018-2019, where projections include a record-breaking 1.7 million cruise guests.

Another Puerto Rican port, Ponce, had calls scheduled for February and March, and more for next season. Vieques, located west of San Juan on the north side of the island, has calls confirmed for 2018-2019, and Campos also said they expect to confirm calls to the small island of Culebra as well.

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Learn more about the Caribbean as the region is seeing a record year of cruise traffic. Download the free Caribbean Cruise Trends Report today.