Port Everglades

Port Everglades in Ft Lauderdale, Florida has received Broward Country's renewed approval of their 20-Year Master Plan to expand the busy cruise, cargo, and fuel port, and add some impressive new features.  The $1.6 billion plan was initiated in 2014 but is updated every few years, and outlines over fifty projects to be completed at different points over the next two decades. The goal? Strategically growing the large commercial port, which among other feats, welcomed over 3.7 million cruise passengers in 2019 alone... read more

Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd (parent company to Celebrity Cruises) and Port Everglades have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) providing the framework for a long term deal between the two entities.  This agreement includes customized renovation of Port Everglades' Terminal 25 by October 31, 2018.  Standard polish, or "Edge Terminal"?  read more

If you've disembarked a large cruise ship in Port Everglades you know that they've got that process down to a science.  You also know that this doesn't mean it's a quick process getting 6,300 passengers through customs.  Today's announcement that Port Everglades will be the first cruise port in which US and Canadian citizens can utilize the Mobile Passport Control app promises to change that - but will it work?

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It's hot, humid, and nearly void of cruise ships. That is the Florida summer. It seems contrary to what you might imagine, but the summer time is not peak cruise season in South Florida. This comes up a lot when I'm out at the ports on the weekend and people ask how many ships are sailing out, so I thought I'd take a moment to explain. The short answer? Every cruise destination has a season.

Cruise ships are frequently compared to hotels. This makes sense, in that they host people for short periods of time, and offer dining, entertainment, and rooms. A big difference is that many hotels in hot tourist spots have low seasons. If you have a hotel in Maine, you know the winter time is gonna be very slow - you might not even stay open. Ships however can follow the business. Sure, some stay in one spot all year, I mean, there isn't a bad time to lay on the beach in Barbados, but what about the people that want to go other places? Mostly because of weather (the weather in the destination, and also the weather others might be escaping), the seasons look something like below (there are certainly other destinations, this is just a sample).