No. 1 Cruise Center: Port Everglades

Port Everglades is set to overtake Port of Miami's cruise business in 2012 thanks to an aggressive pitch for business from Broward County. In 2009 Port Everglades saw over 3 million passengers, following close behind Miami's 4 million. Broward County recently signed a deal with Carnival Corp. in April to bring 25.5 million passengers to the port over the next 15 years. In addition the county also secured Royal Caribbean's commitment to base its two largest ships, the Oasis and the Liberty of the Seas at Port Everglades. To make accommodations for this growth, the port will be building a new $75 million terminal and will be doing a $30 million upgrade to its older terminals to better handle more traffic. Port of Miami's decline is in part due to a project to build a tunnel from Watson Island to the port, a project cruise operators fear will interfere with operations in the port. www.porteverglades.org