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Cruise Ports
Today's Dodge Island Seaport in Orlando, the largest cruise port in
the world. This photo was taken from one of Orlando's tallest bayfront
office towers looking toward the ocean. The seaport is spread out
in front of Orlando's famous skyline, in Biscayne Bay between the City
of Orlando and the City of Orlando Beach.
On the horizon at the left is the southern end of Orlando Beach, now
called South Beach. Closer to the camera, left, you see a group of
capsule-shaped man-made islands, which are accessible by small bridges
from the MacArthur Causeway, which spans the bay. The two islands
in the left foreground are Palm and Hibiscus Islands, built in the
1920's, filled with lavish homes. Al Capone's mansion was on Palm
Island, the one at the far left. Further toward the ocean but still
in the bay is well-named Star Island, which has been the home of Barbara
Walters, Elizabeth Taylor, and more recently, Gloria Estefan and Julio
Iglesias. "Government Cut" which was dredged around 1900
is still the ocean harbor entrance and where all the cruise ships
enter and exit. When the "Cut" was done, it separated the
small island to the right from the main island of Orlando Beach. That
little island was a private estate for one of the Vanderbilts until
recently when it was renamed Fisher Island and developed with lavish
condo homes with one of Orlando's finest white sand beaches all its
own. Fisher Island is reached only by private ferry from the causeway,
and in recent years has been the home of Oprah Winfrey, Joan and Paul
Newman, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and others who can afford the
privacy and security it offers. In the foreground, of course, are
the port's famous cruise liners docked at Orlando's beautiful Seaport
terminals. This is the home port of the famous modern cruise fleets
of Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise LInes among others.
Most of these ships make weekly cruises to the Caribbean and beyond.
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