Passengers aboard a Carnival Cruise ship had to wait for hours to clear immigration and customs. The delay at Terminal 19 was a result of not enough agents. A sign inside said government budget cuts was to blame. "There was not much we could do about it, so we just sat there," said one passenger. Earlier in March, a similar scene unfolded at Miami International Airport. Air travelers were forced to wait several hours to clear immigration. The lack of staffing is a result of automated budget cuts that went into effect earlier this month. "It wasn't the cruise line's fault," said Bill Gentry. "It was TSA, which comes down into customs and they didn't have enough manpower." Thousands of other passengers had to wait outside the terminal at Port Everglades until everyone was off the ship before they could board. www.local10.com/n...

Princess Cruises’ new Royal Princess will call Port Everglades her U.S. winter home when she arrives in the fall of 2013 after debuting in Europe. “We are honored that Princess Cruises has once again selected Port Everglades to homeport the line’s newest and most sophisticated cruise ship, Royal Princess,” says Port Everglades Chief Executive & Port Director Steven Cernak. “Princess has a long, successful history at Port Everglades and we look forward to welcoming Royal Princess in grand style.” browardnetonline....

The largest containerized cargo ship in Port Everglades’ history called at the South Florida seaport, coming from northern Europe on a weekly service into the port, the Journal of Commerce reported. MSC Texas is 1,095 feet long, 141 feet wide and 90,745 gross registered tons, carrying as many as 8,238 20-foot containers when fully loaded at a draft of 47.6 feet. The port expects larger vessels to call with increasing frequency, especially once the Panama Canal is expanded, Chief Executive and Port Director Steven Cernak said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently studying Port Everglades for a project to deepen and widen its channels.

Port Everglades - the gateway to Florida for many cruise ship passengers- is giving four existing terminals a $54 million facelift to modernize them to better handle arrivals and departures. Terminals 2, 19, 21 and 26 -- used mainly byCarnival Corp., cruise ships -- will be gutted and upgraded with additional loading bridges, separate and larger baggage halls, revamped ground transportation areas and new or restored Florida-inspired artwork, port officials said. "Cruise ships are getting larger, so homeports such as Port Everglades must reconfigure and modernize its cruise terminals to accommodate arriving and debarking passengers simultaneously to keep ships on schedule," Port Director Steven Cernak said in a statement. www.orlandosentin...

Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale has recorded an 18.4 percent increase in multi-day cruise activity during the first six months of its fiscal year, with more than 2.5 million passenger passing through the port.

Following a 13-day transatlantic crossing from Turku, Finland, Royal Caribbean International's brand new Allure of the Seas arrived at her homeport of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale (Florida) today. Hundreds of onlookers including Royal Caribbean International employees, residents, media and a flotilla of maritime escorts made up of fireboats and private watercrafts watched the brand new ship arrive. Read more at: www.marketwire.co...