Port Everglades celebrates upswing in cruise business

Cruise travel celebrated a banner year at Broward County’s Port Everglades in Fiscal Year 2011 (October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011) and containerised cargo climbed to its highest level since the global economic downturn in 2009, according to recently released year-end statistics for the South Florida seaport.

Multi-day cruise passengers, those sailing on cruise ships that go out for more than one night, reached a record 3,664,103 in FY 2011, a 10.6 percent increase from 3,314,208 in FY 2010. The total number of passengers, including single-day and multi-day, was 3,952,843 in FY 2011, up 7.6 percent from 3,674,226 passengers in FY 2010. Cruise traffic generated a record $56.7 million in revenue for FY 2011, which is 24.1 percent higher than in FY 2010. Royal Caribbean International’s introduction of its second year-round 5,400-passenger Oasis-class ship, Allure of the Seas, in December 2010, contributed significantly to the increase in multi-day passengers at Port Everglades. Thirteen cruise lines offered services at the Port in FY2011 via a 55-ship cruise fleet, including Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Discovery Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn, and Silversea Cruises.