5 Surprising Facts About Port Everglades

First established as a deep-water harbor in 1927, Port Everglades was dedicated as Bay Mabel Harbor a year later. Incredibly, 85 percent of Broward County's residents (roughly 25,000 people) attended the dedication ceremony.

Port Everglades saw a whopping 3,863,662 total cruise passengers during the fiscal year 2017 (October 1 through September 30). As of March, it's projected to host 3,624,228 passengers during FY2018. That figure is comprised of 3,445,252 multi-day passengers and 178,000 daily passengers. Keep in mind Terminal 25 is currently closed for construction and scheduled to reopen this coming fall.

More than 4,000 ships call at Port Everglades annually, making it one of the three busiest cruise ports in the world and one of the top 10 U.S. container ports. What's more, Port Everglades has more homeported cruise ships than any other port. That includes two of the world's largest cruise ships in Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

Port Everglades holds the world record for Most Cruise Passengers in a Single Day. The record day occurred on March 13, 2016, with 55,885 embarking and debarking guests. The port broke its own record, which had been set earlier in the 2016 season.

Port Everglades generates a ton of money. In fact, the total value of economic activity related to the port is nearly $30 billion. It's estimated that each cruise ship call at Port Everglades generates as much as $2.2 million in business revenue for the local community.