The Port of Miami has set a new world record for cruise traffic in the fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2010. Approximately 4.15 million passengers traveled through the port over the past year. This was the third year in a row that the port has set a world record. Last fiscal year, the port processed 4.1 million passengers. These numbers were boosted by a particularly strong fourth-quarter performance, with passenger traffic up nearly 10 percent year over year for the July-September period. Port officials attributed the strong summer season to dollar-conscious vacationers opting for cruises.

The strong summer season included the arrival of Norwegian Cruise Lines’ mega-ship, the Norwegian Epic, which inaugurated seven-day Caribbean cruises from the Miami port in July. This month, the port kicks off its 2010-11 cruise season with two additional new ships in the line-up -- the Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Cruises’ latest Solstice-class vessel, which arrives Nov. 13, and Oceania Cruises’ Marina, which will be christened in Miami on Feb. 5, 2011. Additionally, Costa Cruises will return to Miami after an absence of several years when the Atlantica arrives in January. For more information, call 305-347-4800 or visit www.miamidade.gov/portofmiami