LauderBlog
Nov 7: From Boats to Ships
Posted On: November 7, 2008 9:06 AM
Posted By: LauderBLOGGER
Related Subjects: Greater Fort Lauderdale
No sooner do we get past the Fort Lauderdale boat show than news comes about other water craft in this area. Big ones. Very big ones. Cruise ships, to be more specific. As any good sailor knows, the right term for these massive vessels is “ships” not “boats.” Once you see a modern cruise ship close up, much less sail on one, you quickly realize that there is indeed a significant difference. Anyhow, I’ve been reading news reports about the cruise industry’s maiden ships for this season. It seems that five of the eight newest ships will dock right here in Port Everglades. I’ll look forward to that. This is the third busiest cruise port on the planet so the ships come and go regularly from now through about April.
I find this port quite beautiful. One of my favorite views in all of South Florida is from the 17th Street Causeway bridge, where I can look out at the ships. At various times, I’ve counted at least eight or nine cruise ships there at the same time. More impressive, perhaps, is that I did this while driving. Not the smartest idea, I grant you – but I managed to count without doing harm to people or property. And the numbers just reinforced for me the stature of Fort Lauderdale as a cruise destination for both departures and arrivals.
This year, Port Everglades will welcome ships such as the Ruby Princess, a Princess Cruises ship with more than 3,000 passengers, an adults-only pool and a huge poolside movie screen. And Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas, carrying more than 3,600 passengers. Etc., etc. If these things get much bigger, they’re going to need their own zip codes. Next year, actually, the largest ship in the industry will be unveiled: the $1 billion Oasis of the Seas. Naturally, it will make port here in Fort Lauderdale. I always think that’s a wonderful thing for passengers, who often work a landside vacation into their cruise itinerary. In this town, folks can find some top hotels near the port, hang out along the ocean and on Las Olas, maybe rent a car and swing over to the Everglades or Hard Rock. And they can relax into several days at sea as part of the same trip. Not a bad way to spend a holiday. A break like that sounds really good to me about now. But since I can’t go anywhere for a while yet, I at least can look out at those beautiful ships in the port. And for a moment dream about where they each will be sailing from here.
I find this port quite beautiful. One of my favorite views in all of South Florida is from the 17th Street Causeway bridge, where I can look out at the ships. At various times, I’ve counted at least eight or nine cruise ships there at the same time. More impressive, perhaps, is that I did this while driving. Not the smartest idea, I grant you – but I managed to count without doing harm to people or property. And the numbers just reinforced for me the stature of Fort Lauderdale as a cruise destination for both departures and arrivals.
This year, Port Everglades will welcome ships such as the Ruby Princess, a Princess Cruises ship with more than 3,000 passengers, an adults-only pool and a huge poolside movie screen. And Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas, carrying more than 3,600 passengers. Etc., etc. If these things get much bigger, they’re going to need their own zip codes. Next year, actually, the largest ship in the industry will be unveiled: the $1 billion Oasis of the Seas. Naturally, it will make port here in Fort Lauderdale. I always think that’s a wonderful thing for passengers, who often work a landside vacation into their cruise itinerary. In this town, folks can find some top hotels near the port, hang out along the ocean and on Las Olas, maybe rent a car and swing over to the Everglades or Hard Rock. And they can relax into several days at sea as part of the same trip. Not a bad way to spend a holiday. A break like that sounds really good to me about now. But since I can’t go anywhere for a while yet, I at least can look out at those beautiful ships in the port. And for a moment dream about where they each will be sailing from here.
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