Viking Octantis, a 634-passenger cruise ship, returned to Port Milwaukee Monday morning carrying roughly 320 passengers, marking the beginning of the 2025 cruise season in Milwaukee.
Its stop in Port Milwaukee marks its fourth consecutive year of opening the city’s cruise season, which this year will include 22 cruise vessel calls, with a total of 44 itineraries in Milwaukee between late April and mid-October, according to a press release from Port Milwaukee.
Viking Octantis, its sister ship Viking Polaris, and the Pearl Seas vessel Pearl Mist will make up Milwaukee’s early season cruise visits.
The cruise season is slightly longer this year than in year’s past. While total visits will be down, passenger numbers will be maintained due to a slightly extended season and the return of Victory Cruise lines after a seven-year hiatus from Port Milwaukee, according to port director Jackie Q. Carter.
Victory Cruise’s vessel Victory I is scheduled for three turnaround visits to Port Milwaukee in 2025.
About 22,000 passengers will cruise the Great Lakes this year, up 10% from 2024. The region’s cruise ship economic impact is projected to exceed $230 million, up 15% from last year, according to information from Cruise the Great Lakes.
In addition to this year’s cruise ship visits to Milwaukee, construction will begin this spring on the South Shore East cruise dock to be completed and operational by the 2026 cruise season.
“We’ll see a major uptick in the number of vessel visits in 2026,” Carter said.
The South Shore East cruise dock project has been in the planning stage for the past couple of years and its price tag has increased to $17 million. City taxpayers are funding $5 million of that cost, thanks to a recent budget allocation by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, providing the last piece of funding needed to complete the project, according to the press release.
“This really is a great economic booster for us, and one that I’m really excited to be a part of,” said Johnson.
The South Shore East cruise dock site will include a deep-water draft that will be able to accommodate larger cruise vessels including Viking, which has docked since 2022 at the port’s industrial heavy lift dock.
The 2026 cruise season is already expected to bring roughly 18,500 global passengers to Milwaukee.
More articles about cruise ships in Milwaukee:
- Great Lakes passenger cruises expected to draw record numbers in 2025
- Cruise ship passenger visits to Milwaukee up 18% this year
