"We knew it would be close, but it was surprising to find out that there was a significant increase -- 2,005 more passengers - than the number of passengers who traveled through Port Everglades when the last world record was set in 2006," said Port Director Phillip C. Allen. "Though we don't know when the next record will be set, we're getting ready to handle even more passengers next year with the expansion of Terminal 18 for Royal Caribbean International's Oasis-class ships, which will be the largest cruise ships in the world carrying more than 5,400 passengers."

If lined up bow to stern, the 11 cruise ships docked at Port Everglades on January 3 would have stretched 9,869 feet or the equivalent of nearly 31 football fields. That is enough cruise passengers to fill 105 747 jumbo jets and is equivalent to approximately one-third the population of the City of Hollywood, Fla., where approximately 80 percent of the Port is located.

The cruise ships that were in port on January 3 included: Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Freedom and Carnival Splendor, Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2, Discovery Cruise Line's Discovery Sun, Holland America Line's Eurodam, Noordam and Statendam, MSC Cruises' MSC Lirica, Princess Cruises' Ruby Princess, Royal Caribbean International's Navigator of the Seas, and Seabourn Cruise Line's Seabourn Pride.

Broward County's Port Everglades is poised to become the world's top cruise port by 2011 with Royal Caribbean International homeporting its two new 5,400-passenger Oasis-class vessels at the South Florida cruise port. Each Oasis-class ship is projected to generate approximately 584,000 passenger movements annually at Port Everglades. The first of the 220,000-gross-registered-ton ships, Oasis of the Seas, is scheduled to begin sailing year-round from Port Everglades in fall 2009, with the second sister-ship, Allure of the Seas, to begin year-round sailings one year later. The expansion of Terminal 18 is being done in two phases, which when complete in November 2009, will increase the terminal's interior space from 67,500 square feet to a total of 240,000 square feet at a cost of $75 million. Once completed, Cruise Terminal 18 will become the largest cruise terminal in the world that can serve one ship at a time.

"Busy cruise days illustrate the economic benefits that the cruise industry brings to our community and the state of Florida," says Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter. "The cruise industry at Port Everglades is a major contributor to the economic health of our tourism-based community in Greater Fort Lauderdale, accounting for over 12,000 jobs and contributing $1.4 billion in local economic activity. Broward County is fortunate to have one of the world's most popular and busiest cruise ports."

Port Everglades is the cruise ship capital of the world with more than 3 million passengers expected during 2009 and more homeported cruise ships than any cruise port worldwide. Fourteen cruise lines sail from the South Florida seaport. The Port's ever-expanding fleet of cruise ships provides guests with an array of cruise vacation choices from the sunny Greater Fort Lauderdale area including everything from sampler-size day cruises to around-the-world cruises. Details on the latest cruise offerings are available on the Internet at www.broward.org/port.