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Port of Departure Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The main inlet at Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale's port is called Port Everglades, which is a misleading name, as it is not in fact located anywhere near the Florida Everglades. The port is situated on the coastline of the city of Fort Lauderdale, about 25 miles north of Miami. Ft. Lauderdale is often referred to by its tagline, the 'Venice of America', because of its 270 miles of canals and waterways. The city was first founded by Major William Lauderdale during the Seminole War of 1837-1838. The city grew rapidly during the land boom in Florida during the 1920s. Ft. Lauderdale has continued to grow, and its metro area now has over 4.5 million residents. Port Everglades itself is a largely artificial harbor, built in the early 20th century. Joseph Young, the founder and mayor of Hollywood, bought a large plot of land with the ambition of creating a port. Next he started the Hollywood Harbor Development Company, and building began soon after, with the intention of creating a deep harbor to accommodate larger ships. In 1927 President Calvin Coolidge was invited to open the harbor, by detonating a part of the inlet channel. Things went wrong though when the detonator failed, and the port was officially opened without any spectacular explosions. Thanks to its deep-water inlet channel and moorings, the port developed rapidly into a busy hub of trade. Today Port Lauderdale is used by several cruise lines as a departure point for Caribbean cruises. The port is the third-busiest cruise port in the world, drawing almost 3 million cruise passengers to its 11 cruise terminals. Currently the port holds the world-record for the number of cruiseships at harbor in a day, with 15 ships. Cruiselines which operate from the port include Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Crystal, Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Princess and Royal Caribbean.  Subscribe 
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Cruises From Fort Lauderdale, Florida |