The forecast is to reach 35/40 thousand disembarked passengers in the Elban port by 2026
The expected arrival of 104 ships and the goal of reaching 35/40 thousand cruise passengers. These are the forecasts for Portoferraio for 2026. The data released by the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea Port System Authority highlight a further growth of the sector for the Island of Elba compared to 2025, a year during which more than satisfactory results were achieved, both for port call bookings and for the number of cruise passengers.
The year that is about to close has in fact totaled 85 calls and approximately 21 thousand cruise passengers in transit. 2026 therefore expects 20 more arrivals. The data is still being consolidated, with possible increases. All the main cruise companies are confirmed compared to this year, with an offering ranging from the luxury segment to the mass market. Among the main novelties of the year are the arrivals of the mega Yacht VidantaWorld’s Elegant (by Vidanta World) and the Four Season I, the first superyacht by Four Season, which will officially enter service in March.
Also planned are the first-time calls of the Nautica, by the company Oceania Cruises, which for the first time calls at Portoferraio, and those of the Evrima, the brand new yacht of the ultra-luxury company Ritz-Carlton, which thus strengthens its presence at the Elban port, already visited in 2025 with the ship Luminara. The company Ponant, a world leader in luxury cruises, has also decided to increase the number of calls, moving from 8 in 2025 to the 18 planned in 2026.
Also noteworthy are the new arrivals of the Island Princess (by the company Island Spirit), those of the Silver Shadow (Silversea Cruises), and the OE Corinthian, the world’s largest sailing yacht, which will set sail in June 2026. Other novelties are represented by the first-time arrivals of the MS Hamburg (by MS Plantours & Partners Hamburg) and the Douglas Mawson, by Aurora Expedition.
“The data confirms the strong interest of cruise companies in the Elban port,” states the President of the AdSP, Davide Gariglio. “All the premises are there to surpass the already excellent numbers achieved by the market in the current year,” he adds, not without claiming a small part of the credit for this result.
“We like to believe that today the port is more efficient, safe, and attractive also thanks to the work carried out on the Deep Water Quay,” he states, emphasizing how the strategic interventions completed last year have completely redesigned the traffic layout, creating a filter lane for buses destined for cruise ship passengers and allocating the parking spaces of the Residenze to cars waiting for ferries.
The next objective will be the ecological transformation of the port, thanks to the electrification of cold ironing: “In Portoferraio, as in Piombino, the work will be completed by March 2026: in both ports, all excavation paths with the laying of conduits and cables have essentially been completed, and the work for the construction of the conversion cabins is about to be finished. Once the works are completed, we will be able to significantly reduce polluting emissions, also reducing noise pollution.”
