Oct 13: Ship Shape

I see that the busiest part of our cruise season already is shaping up. I noticed this over the weekend when I spotted three huge ships docked at the same time in Port Everglades. One was part of the Princess cruise line, another was Royal Caribbean and the third was maybe a Celebrity ship, though I couldn't tell for sure. In a few weeks, that number will grow. During the winter months, I've counted as many as eight ships all waiting at once to leave from Fort Lauderdale for destinations around the Caribbean and beyond. I think many folks still don't quite realize how big Fort Lauderdale is in the cruise industry. Just the other day I read that we're supposed to host more than 3.3 million passengers in 2010 - at just this one port. That's kind of amazing to me, honestly.

I wrote a cruise column for Budget Travel magazine for a while and that wasn't too many years ago. I recall that around this period it was a very big deal when the annual cruise passenger total exceeded seven million for the first time. That was for the entire cruise industry in this country. Wow, things have changed, huh?

I think 2010 is going to be a very cool year for cruising in or out of Fort Lauderdale. The world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, will be christened right here. Fort Lauderdale will be the home port for this monster ship that holds 5,400 people. I've sailed on Voyager of the Seas, with its 3,100-person capacity, and that felt like a floating city to me. Also Silversea Cruises' newest ship will be christened here in the coming weeks. The Silver Spirit will join five other elegant ships as part of a fleet often voted the world's best small cruise line. I've also sailed on Silversea and know the high level of luxury that comes with the experience. The naming ceremonies for both these ships will help to kick our busy cruise season into high gear. Man, I mean seriously - there will be ships and boats galore around here soon, even more than usual. You may remember that the 50th annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show starts on October 29, stretching from Port Everglades all the way up A1A to the Fort Lauderdale beachfront. That's always a good time too. This town simply is a wonderful place to be if you like floating on the water, whether on a boat or a ship. That's true any time of the year, of course. But from now through the next several months, the long list of options available for your preferred float will just get a bit longer.