Port Everglades Develops Into Premier Port Facility

Port Everglades’ reputation as a premier international cruise port has skyrocketed in recent years, boosted by infrastructure developments and homeport status for two of the world’s biggest cruise ships.

“We have become the cruise capital of the world,” said Fernando Harb, director of sales for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.

While Harb is understandably biased about the port, numbers bear him out. For one, Port Everglades now handles more passengers than any other cruise port in the world, he said. 
 
The numbers were achieved partly as a result of two of the world’s largest cruise ships – Royal Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas and the Oasis of the Seas – home porting in a new terminal the port opened two years ago. One ship arrives at the terminal on Saturday and the other on Sunday; each discharges and boards up to 6,000 passengers per week.

The construction of that terminal, which Harb described as the biggest cruise terminal in the world, accelerated Fort Lauderdale’s development as an international cruise port.

This year, Port Everglades will berth 16 cruise lines and 50 cruise ships, and handle more than 2,000 cruises and three million passengers. In addition, many newly built ships will make their debut sailing from the port.

And that’s just the start. “Port Everglades has room to expand,” Harb pointed out. “Other ports have nowhere to grow.”

Diversity and development
Port Everglades is already a highly diversified port that hosts a wide variety of brands, according to Carlos Buqueras, director of the port’s business development division.

“We have all of the Carnival brands,” he said. “We are also home to Cunard, and last year three round-the-world cruises called here. We have every variety of cruise.”

The port includes 11 terminals and covers more than 2,400 acres right off the end of Interstate 595, making it easy to reach by road or by air.

“It’s just a mile from the airport,” said Buqueras. “It’s also well laid out so you can come in from the highway or two other entrances very easily. There’s ample parking, including shipside parking. It’s easy to park and walk to the terminals.”

Improvements to the cruise port are ongoing.

“We recently signed an agreement with Carnival to update their four terminals and are doing them one at a time over the next two years,” Buqueras told Travel Market Report. “We are adding concessions, and expanding entrances and exits. We are also working with Carnival to customize each terminal depending on the brand.”

The remaining seven cruise terminals will also be completely renovated in the near future, he said.

Fort Lauderdale’s dedication to and investment in the cruise market is evidenced by Royal Caribbean’s use of the port, said Buqueras, who noted “We were the first place outside Miami where Royal Caribbean launched a new ship.”

Key selling points
The port’s proximity to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and to the destination’s attractions and beaches, are key selling points for travel agents, according to Harb.

“Our airport, downtown and beaches are within a five-mile radius of the cruise terminals,” he said. “You could arrive at the airport, hop in a cab, and be shipside in less than ten minutes.”

The challenge for the visitor bureau is “educating our agent partners about why Fort Lauderdale is such a great pre- and post-cruise destination. We have more than enough in the way of hotels and attractions to offer in the immediate vicinity of our cruise port.”

Within just a couple of miles port, “You can be at our best beach hotels. You can stay in a great place with fantastic ocean views.”

Airport expansion
Expansion projects over the last five years have more than doubled the number of flights in and out of the airport, and a massive construction project to extend the runway and enlarge the international terminal is underway.

Much of the airport’s growth has been fueled by cruise-related travel, said Harb. “The air corridor between New York and Fort Lauderdale is now the busiest in the country, and that is a tribute to the convenience of our airport.”

Buqueras pointed out that the airport is home to a number of low-cost carriers. “That means you can take a $500 cruise without having to pay $1,000 for an air ticket,” he said.

Harb wants agents who haven’t seen Port Everglades or been to Fort Lauderdale in a few years to understand that things have changed – dramatically: “They’re remembering a cruise port area that was very quiet. Now the destination, including the area around the port, has grown to where we can meet the needs of every passenger. There are lots of restaurants, hotels and attractions.”

Information specifically for agents and other travel sellers is available in the travel trade section on Fort Lauderdale’s website. The site includes extensive information on cruising and answers to many common questions agents will get from clients on activities, restaurants, hotels with day rates, locations for spa treatments, and more.

“We’ve taken the hassle out of the agent’s planning,” said Harb. “Even if an agent is not too familiar with the destination, there is so much information easily available.”

RESOURCES
Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB website, travel trade section.