Ports
Manila is riding the country’s biggest cruise surge: 136 calls nationwide in 2025, 76,000 passengers in just the first two months of 2026 — and a new cruise terminal on the drawing board.
Cruise ships dock at the North Port Passenger Terminal on Pier 4 in Tondo — opened 2013, a 12,000 m² hall with a 2,000-seat waiting area, five-ship berthing and capacity for 2–3 million passengers a year. The 2026 season is rewriting the record book: the Ports Authority logged 76,188 cruise passengers in January–February alone, more than double the whole of last year’s pace, with 127 more calls expected by year-end.
Next up are two private-sector terminals: a new Manila Cruise Terminal concept modelled on Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal, and the Solaire Cruise Center at the Entertainment City resort strip — pier for two mega-ships, 7,000 m² terminal, yacht marina and a 1,740-seat theatre.
Manila’s sea traffic is bigger than cruising: 2GO Travel’s inter-island ferries use the Eva Macapagal terminal at South Harbor and the North Port piers for the overnight runs to Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro — the archipelago’s working transit, cabins and all. For travellers, an overnight ferry to the Visayas doubles as a hotel night and the cheapest way to feel the country’s scale.
THE TIO READ
Arriving on a ship, plan Manila as two half-days: Intramuros and Binondo’s food crawl in the north, the bay sunset and Mall of Asia in the south. Book Grab rather than hailing street taxis, and keep pesos small-denomination. If you have a spare night, the 2GO ferry to Cebu is the insider move — dinner aboard, sunrise over the Visayas.
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