Cruise days shape everything on St. Thomas. Traffic through Charlotte Amalie, the line at the Red Hook ferry, chairs at Magens Bay, the lunch rush downtown. Locals plan around them, and the visitors who know better do too.
So we mapped the season. Every call on the West Indian Company’s published schedule for October 2026 through September 2027, laid out day by day, with the busiest and quietest days called out.
cruise ship calls scheduled from October 2026 to September 2027, bringing an estimated 1.89 million passengers.
estimated cruise visitors on Wednesday, January 20, 2027, from five ships. The busiest day of the season.
Wednesdays average 13,970 cruise visitors. Fridays average 1,003.
days in the season with no cruise ship in port.
of those ship-free days fall in peak season, December through March.
calls come from ships carrying 5,000 or more guests.
Explore the season, day by day
Pick a month, then tap any day to see which ships are due. Scheduled calls, October 2026 to September 2027. Passengers estimated from ship capacity.
Light under 4,000, busy 4,000 to 10,000, very busy 10,000 to 16,000, packed 16,000+ cruise passengers.
Ship calls come from the West Indian Company (WICO) FY2027 cruise schedule, Revision 4, dated September 14, 2026, covering October 4, 2026 through September 30, 2027. The schedule lists ships, not people, so passengers are estimated from each ship’s published capacity. Sold-out sailings can carry more, and lines sometimes adjust itineraries.
Calls at Havensight and Crown Bay are counted for St. Thomas. Ships anchored off St. John are counted separately. Data pulled October 12, 2026. Free to cite with a link back to this page, and the full schedule is available to download below.
The season month by month
St. Thomas has 560 ship calls on the schedule from October 2026 to September 2027, bringing an estimated 1.89 million passengers to Havensight and Crown Bay. Ships are due on 233 days, which leaves 129 days with no cruise ship in port at all.
December is the peak at about 272,000 passengers, with January close behind. From May through September the island settles into a steady 22 to 26 calls a month.
Scheduled cruise passengers by month
October 2026 to September 2027. Estimated from ship capacity.
See the numbers
| 2026-27 | |
|---|---|
| October 2026 | 89,200 |
| November 2026 | 195,100 |
| December 2026 | 271,860 |
| January 2027 | 244,840 |
| February 2027 | 200,710 |
| March 2027 | 239,250 |
| April 2027 | 129,820 |
| May 2027 | 102,200 |
| June 2027 | 110,200 |
| July 2027 | 91,700 |
| August 2027 | 104,100 |
| September 2027 | 111,400 |
The weekly rhythm
Wednesday is the big day in St. Thomas by a wide margin, averaging 13,970 cruise visitors. Thursday averages 7,514 and Tuesday 5,991. Friday is the quietest day of the week at 1,003, with Saturday close behind at 1,939.
Average cruise visitors by day of week
2026-27 season. Average across every day of that weekday, ship or no ship.
See the numbers
| 2026-27 | |
|---|---|
| Monday | 3,522 |
| Tuesday | 5,991 |
| Wednesday | 13,970 |
| Thursday | 7,514 |
| Friday | 1,003 |
| Saturday | 1,939 |
| Sunday | 2,471 |
The five busiest scheduled days
| Date | Ships | Est. passengers |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, Jan 20, 2027 | 5 | 20,600 |
| Wed, Dec 2, 2026 | 5 | 18,700 |
| Wed, Feb 24, 2027 | 5 | 18,700 |
| Wed, Feb 3, 2027 | 5 | 18,600 |
| Wed, Apr 14, 2027 | 5 | 18,400 |
All five fall on a Wednesday. Bigger ships are a big part of the story: 107 calls come from ships carrying 5,000 or more guests, like Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas, spread over 86 different days. Royal Caribbean brings the most passengers (about 596,000), followed by Norwegian and Carnival. In all, 85 different ships from 21 cruise lines are on the schedule.
From December through March, St. Thomas has just 12 days with no ship in port: December 1 and 4, January 8, 26 and 29, February 19 and 23, and March 12, 13, 19, 26 and 28.
Over on St. John, 82 smaller ship calls are scheduled, mostly luxury lines between December and March, for about 31,000 passengers in total.
What this means on the ground
For island businesses
- Plan by the ship calendar, not the month. A Wednesday on St. Thomas can look like a holiday weekend.
- Lunch is the window. On big days most passengers are ashore from late morning to mid afternoon, so that is when staffing and stock matter most.
- Ship-free days belong to locals and stay-over guests. Fridays and Saturdays are the natural days for specials, events and resident deals.
- Big ships mean big days. Check the calendar for days with a 5,000-guest ship in port and plan extra hands.
For visitors
- Want it quieter? Fridays and Saturdays are the lightest days, and the calendar above shows every ship-free date.
- On a big ship day, get to Magens Bay or Coki early, save town for late afternoon, or spend the day on St. John.
Quick facts
- St. Thomas has 560 cruise calls and about 1.89 million passengers scheduled for October 2026 to September 2027 (WICO schedule, Houseful analysis).
- The busiest scheduled day of the 2026-27 season is Wednesday, January 20, 2027, with five ships and an estimated 20,600 passengers.
- Wednesday is the busiest cruise day on St. Thomas, averaging 13,970 visitors. Friday averages 1,003.
- St. Thomas has 129 ship-free days in the 2026-27 season, but only 12 from December through March.
- 107 St. Thomas calls in 2026-27 come from ships carrying 5,000 or more guests.
Houseful Co. (2026). St. Thomas Cruise Season 2026-27. The Latitude Report. https://housefulhospitality.com/latitude/st-thomas-cruise-season-2027/
Journalists and researchers are welcome to use any figure here. Please link to this page as the source.
Cozumel Cruise Report 2025-26
5.1 million cruise passengers came ashore in Cozumel last season, up 11.9%. See every day of the year, from official port records.
Check any St. Thomas date before you plan it
Our free St. Thomas cruise calendar shows which ships are in port, when they arrive and leave, and how busy each day looks. Businesses can embed it on their own site at no cost.