Commercial shipping began in 1955 and cruise liners have used the docks from 1964. Some of the most well known cruise companies' liners pass through Port Canaveral, including Disney, Royal Caribbean International, Carnival and the Norwegian Cruise Line. The dock has six cruise terminals and the port is also home to the SunCruz Casinos and Sterling Casinos casino ships. The port has a good working relationship with NASA at the nearby John F.Kennedy Space Center. The port allows rocket boosters to pass through and the external tanks from the Space Shuttle are also brought through for each shuttle mission.

There are lots of plans for the future to expand Port Canaveral even further, including the construction of another cruise terminal. The cruise industry is going through a boom time and the port wants extra capacity.  The port's channel will be widened and a fuel tank depot is to be constructed with a pipeline link to Orlando International Airport.