Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association Gala a Huge Success

Pembroke Pines, FL (March 23, 2009) –It was a spectacular evening at the beautiful Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach—the setting for cruise executives from the ten Member Lines of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), who hosted tables for the 15th Annual FCCA Gala Dinner and Entertainment Extravaganza.

The event took place on Thursday, March 19, 2009, beginning with a jovial cocktail reception and silent auction featuring beautiful artwork donated by West End Gallery, Inc,, including a personal portrait of the winning bidder by Peter Max. Attendees were welcomed by a Mariachi Band and were treated to a tantalizing array of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres.

Sponsored by the Port of Miami, this premier social event hosted more than 60 of the cruise industry’s top executives as table hosts for the evening. The Gala afforded the opportunity for developing strong cooperative relationships between the cruise industry and our destination partners.

FCCA President, Michele M. Paige stated, “In this time of opportunity, we need to keep our partners close, which is what the Gala enabled us to do.”

Senator Allen Chastanet, Minister of Tourism & Civil Aviation, St. Lucia commented, “The Gala was incredibly indicative of the strength of the industry; to get the quality of people to come out to a new venue shows that the industry is not backing down due to the environment.”

“Fabulous event at a great venue. The service and the food were excellent, and the company was outstanding,” boasted Stephen Nielsen, Vice President, Caribbean & Atlantic Shore Operations, Princess Cruises.

Geoffrey Roach CEO of Bridgetown Cruise Terminals, Inc, Barbados, shared his experience of his first Gala, “It was a very interesting experience to meet a great diverse group of people in the cruise industry. Our tablemates included people as far away as Russia, Turkey and Italy as well as various destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America.”

100% of the proceeds from the Gala will benefit the FCCA Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization created in 1993 to fund humanitarian causes in the Caribbean and Latin America. Numerous worthy projects receive funding each year through the FCCA Foundation, most recently the FCCA Holiday Gift Project brought smiles to the faces of over 7,000 under-privileged children throughout the Caribbean and Latin American Region.