Apr 2: Cruise Central

Did you know that the whole cruise industry is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale? Yep, sure is. An organization known as CLIA has its main offices right on SE 17^th Street beside Port Everglades. That should tell you something about the importance of this city to the cruise business. CLIA is an acronym for Cruise Lines International Association, which represents 23 major cruise lines serving North America. I mention this because right now CLIA is hosting a major conference for those who work in cruising. That means thousands of travel agents, along with executives from the cruise lines and the travel industry in general. And some cruise journalists mixed in for the heck of it. It's a big deal, really, this event called cruise3sixty.

Starting now and running through Monday, the Broward County Convention Center becomes cruise central. I've gone to these conferences in the past and they're fun. Everyone is buzzing with gossip about the latest ships ready for launching or the rumors about some company's new itinerary. Most of these folks have been on many, many cruises themselves, of course, so it's always a kick to trade stories about some recent adventure.

It is no coincidence that cruise3sixty is held here, just as it's no coincidence that CLIA is based here. Port Everglades is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. And now it also has been selected as this country's best. Porthole Cruise Magazine picked Port Everglades as the finest home port in the United States. That's a very nice honor - and well-deserved. Which is one big reason why so many cruise ships come and go from Fort Lauderdale throughout the year. This is a pleasant port, easy to use, with a major airport and fine hotels and some world-famous sights all within a short taxi ride. I've mentioned before that I'll often see seven or eight ships at a time waiting to leave on Sunday afternoons during the autumn through spring high season for Caribbean cruises. This is a true cruise capital. So as a former cruise columnist for Budget Travel magazine, I'd like to welcome my colleagues to Fort Lauderdale for the weekend.