Five ways into this guide
Go straight to the question you came with. Each card jumps to its answer.
Lines that start here
Mostly European winter round trips, plus a few crossings a US traveller can book.
Jump to lines →The islands and the Atlantic
The other Canaries, Madeira, and west to the Caribbean.
Jump to destinations →One terminal
The new building on the Santa Catalina pier, and what we couldn’t confirm.
Jump to the terminal →Flying into LPA
Line 60 for €2.95 and the metered taxi.
Jump to getting here →Ten hotels, ranked
From Santa Catalina to the airport, scored on what each one publishes.
See the hotels →In brief
Las Palmas is the capital of Gran Canaria and one of the Canary Islands’ winter cruise bases. On October 2, 2025, a new terminal opened on the Muelle de Santa Catalina — 14,000 m² over two floors, three boarding bridges, room for four ships at once, per Seatrade. Global Ports Holding runs it with a local partner, SEPCAN.
This page is for starting or ending a cruise here. If your ship is only calling for the day, our Las Palmas port-day guide covers the walk into town and our shore excursion picks cover the tours.
The port’s busy — the Las Palmas port system handled about 2.09 million cruise passengers in 2025, its first year over two million, per RTVC. And watch the clock: the Canaries run an hour behind mainland Spain.
Cruise lines sailing from here
Deployments change every season, so this roster is dated and sourced, and most of it is sold in Europe, not the US.
Checked against line and trade sources on October 19, 2026. Be clear about one thing first: most sailings that start in Las Palmas are sold to European markets — German, British, Italian and Spanish. MSC lists Las Palmas as a departure port, and a US agency shows MSC Fantasia on 7-night round trips from December 18, 2026 into March 2027. AIDA runs AIDAprima from Gran Canaria in October and November 2026, and TUI Cruises sails Mein Schiff Relax and Mein Schiff 7 from or to Gran Canaria. Marella homeports Marella Discovery 2 and Marella Explorer in Gran Canaria and Tenerife from November 2026. Costa starts one-way crossings here in November and December 2026, to Brazil and the Caribbean. For a US traveller, the realistic bookings are MSC, which sells in the US, and the crossings: Star Clippers sails Star Flyer from Las Palmas to St. Maarten on November 13, 2026, and Star Clipper to Bridgetown on November 20, both 15 nights, per Star Clippers’ winter list. A US agency also lists Ponant’s Le Champlain to Martinique on November 21, 2027. Celebrity, Norwegian, Holland America and Virgin call here; we found none of them starting a 2026-27 cruise in Las Palmas.
Sources, read October 19, 2026: msccruises.co.uk and msccruisesusa.com, aida.de (April 2026 press release), touristik-aktuell.de, tuigroup.com, Star Clippers’ winter 2026-27 sailing list, and agency listings on cruiseweb.com and affordabletours.com for MSC, Costa and Ponant dates. Deployments change; confirm your own ship and date before you book around it.
Where you can go
From Las Palmas the round trips loop the other Canaries and Madeira in a week. The crossings head west instead — to the Caribbean or, with Costa, to Brazil. The stops below are ones we cover; one voyage won’t call at all of them.
Destinations
Where a Las Palmas cruise goes
Atlantic ports on the round trips and the repositioning routes. Check your own itinerary.
Showing all 4
The Atlantic islands
2Madeira and the Azores, on the round trips and the longer Atlantic routes.
The mainland coast
2The Iberian ports on longer Atlantic routes.
No destination matches that. Clear the filter to see all 4 again.
Before or after the ship: the Atlantic crossings are listed in our Transatlantic and Repositioning cruise guide. Lisbon is another Atlantic embarkation port; our Lisbon cruise guide covers it.
The Santa Catalina terminal
There’s one cruise terminal: the new building on the Muelle de Santa Catalina, inside the Puerto de La Luz. Seatrade says it opened on October 2, 2025, with Celebrity Apex, and handles both turnarounds and port calls. Global Ports Holding lists four berths, 1,615 m of quay and the city centre 390 m away.
What we couldn’t confirm is the passenger detail — the terminal’s own site wouldn’t load for us, so check-in times come from your line. A third-party port guide says the terminal stores bags on request, has a taxi rank out front, and lets only passengers inside — treat all three as likely, not certain.
| Quay | Where | What we know |
|---|---|---|
| Muelle de Santa Catalina terminal | Puerto de La Luz, east of Parque Santa Catalina | Opened October 2, 2025; 14,000 m², three boarding bridges, four ships at once, per Seatrade; turnaround and transit |
| Parque Santa Catalina | Next to the port | The bus interchange for line 60 from the airport, per Aena and MSC; about a 10-minute walk from the ship, per CruiseMapper |
Send us your ship and sail date and we’ll tell you which quay and which night. Ask us ↓
Sources: seatrade-cruise.com, globalportsholding.com, msccruises.co.uk and cruisemapper.com, read October 19, 2026; terminal services from cruisedealstipsandtricks.com, a third-party guide. Confirm with your line — the quay can change with the ship.
Parking, in short
We found no published cruise-parking rate at the terminal — a third-party port guide says the port-side parking is for workers and transfers, and names nearby public garages without prices. MSC says its guests can book parking through MSC, with no price shown.
Most people starting a cruise here fly in — do the same, and take the bus or a taxi.
Getting here
Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), at Gando, is about 27 km from the port along the GC-1, per MSC — and Global’s line 60 runs direct to the city. Its stop is on the first floor, departures, one floor up from baggage reclaim, per the Cabildo’s tourism site.
| From | Taxi | Public transport |
|---|---|---|
| LPA — airport to the port | About €30 to €50, metered, per Spain’s tourism board. | Line 60 to the Santa Catalina interchange, beside the port: €2.95, two buses an hour through the day, per Aena. |
| LPA — airport to the old town | The same metered taxi. | Line 60 to San Telmo: €2.30, per Aena. Lines 1, 5, 11 and 91 also stop at the airport. |
Landing the day before? Booking.com lists airport taxis you can book ahead. See airport taxis on Booking.com →
Booking.com links are affiliate links: Seabound Journeys may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. Affiliate disclosure.
Las Palmas city taxis can’t pick up at the airport; the ranks there are worked by Telde and Ingenio taxis, per RTVC. The Canary government proposed a €40 day and €45 night cap on the airport-to-city ride in August 2026, but we couldn’t confirm it’s in force. Gran Canaria Airport to the ship has the rest.
The night before, ranked: we’ve scored ten hotels for the night before a Las Palmas cruise, from Santa Catalina to the airport, on what each one publishes. None runs a ride to the ship. Five worth knowing:
| Hotel | Where | One thing to know |
|---|---|---|
| Bull Reina Isabel | Alfredo L. Jones, on Las Canteras | No. 1: breakfast in every rate, a free spa, and the terminal about 750 m away. |
| AC Gran Canaria | Eduardo Benot, by Parque Santa Catalina | The nearest bed to the terminal in our list, about 450 m, with a rooftop pool. |
| Royal Hideaway | León y Castillo, in Parque Doramas | The splurge: two MICHELIN-starred restaurants in Parque Doramas. |
| Sercotel Parque | Muelle Las Palmas, by Parque San Telmo | The old-town base by San Telmo, with €10 parking. |
| Elba Vecindario | Avenida del Atlántico, Vecindario, south of the airport | The airport-area option, with a free shuttle. |
Planning a Las Palmas cruise?
Tell us your ship and date, and we’ll line up the crossing.
Most Las Palmas questions come down to the flight and the clock — send the line and the date, and Seabound Journeys will sort the flight, the hotel and the ride.
We say where each fact comes from, and date it.
Las Palmas FAQ
Where do cruise ships dock in Las Palmas?
At the cruise terminal on the Muelle de Santa Catalina, inside the Puerto de La Luz. It opened on October 2, 2025, with three boarding bridges and room for four ships, per Seatrade.
Which cruise lines start cruises in Las Palmas?
Mostly European lines: MSC, AIDA, TUI Cruises, Marella and Costa, on winter Canary round trips and crossings. For US travellers the realistic options are MSC and the Star Clippers crossings to the Caribbean in November 2026.
How do I get from Gran Canaria Airport to the cruise terminal?
Take Global’s line 60 to the Santa Catalina interchange beside the port, €2.95, two buses an hour through the day, per Aena. Or a metered taxi, about €30 to €50, per Spain’s tourism board.
Is Las Palmas on the same time as mainland Spain?
No. The Canary Islands are an hour behind mainland Spain, on the same time as London. Check which clock your ship keeps.
Do Americans need anything to fly in and board a ship in Las Palmas?
It’s Spain, so it’s Schengen. The EU’s Entry/Exit System has been fully running since April 10, 2026, and replaces passport stamps for non-EU visitors with a photo and fingerprints at the first Schengen border. ETIAS hasn’t launched and isn’t needed yet. The EU has promised at least six months’ notice, and no start date had been announced when we checked on October 19, 2026. Check the State Department’s Spain page before you fly.
Is there cruise parking in Las Palmas?
Not with a published rate that we found. MSC says its guests can book parking through MSC, without a price.
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