Ellen Kennedy to Retire as Port Everglades Names Successor

Ellen Kennedy will retire from Port Everglades in August after 26 years with the South Florida port, and Joy Oglesby has been promoted to succeed her as director of external affairs and marketing. Oglesby, now public information officer for external affairs and marketing, will take over the role on Aug. 7.

Port Everglades now handles far more cruise traffic than when Kennedy arrived: passenger movements rose from 1.6 million in 2000 to 4,773,873 in fiscal 2025, up 16% year over year, with 4.9 million projected for fiscal 2026. By passenger volume, the port ranks fourth globally and third among cruise homeports.

Joseph Morris, CEO and port director, called Kennedy “a driving force at the county and port” and said she helped position Port Everglades through several stages of growth. Morris said Oglesby brings “proven leadership and experience, creative ideas, excellent energy and strong collaboration” to the post.

Kennedy’s role grew with the port

Kennedy joined Port Everglades in August 2000 as manager of corporate communications, hired by then-Port Director Paul DeMariano. She later served in business development, including assistant director and acting director assignments, which gave her direct exposure to both cargo and cruise operations while communications was still housed within that division.

Over her tenure she worked under eight port directors: DeMariano, Ken Krauter, Debbie Bowers, Phil Allen, Steve Cernak, Glenn Wiltshire, Jonathan Daniels and Morris. Kennedy also took a position on where corporate communications, later external affairs, should report. “I felt very strongly we should report directly to the port director,” Kennedy said.

Cruise restart and terminal projects were among career milestones

Kennedy named the port’s COVID-19 restart among her proudest moments. Led by Wiltshire and operating under the U.S. Coast Guard Unified Command, Port Everglades restored cruise operations, and Celebrity Edge sailed on June 26, 2021, as the first oceangoing cruise ship to depart a U.S. port in 15 months. “I liked the way we came together and worked with cruise lines and various government agencies to open as soon as possible,” Kennedy said.

Terminal 18’s November 2009 opening for Oasis of the Seas was another project Kennedy cited, including media briefings, tours and a Royal Caribbean opening event. She said she “felt like I was part of the building team from the ground up” as the port opened a terminal designed around a 15-minute curb-to-ship goal; facial-recognition processing later reduced the interval further.

Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 arrived Jan. 26, 2004, at the end of its maiden trans-Atlantic crossing, drawing crowds as a passenger ship of more than 148,000gt. “We were really excited to have this legendary name,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy also pointed to Disney Cruise Line’s arrival in 2022 and its dedicated terminal in 2023. She said Disney “really helped diversify” the port’s cruise lineup beyond the traditional Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Group brands.

Port Everglades hosted cruise terminal renovation ceremonies for Carnival Corp. at Terminals 2, 4, 21 and 26; Royal Caribbean Group projects at Oasis Terminal 18 and Terminal 25 for Celebrity Edge; and the Disney terminal opening in 2023. In early November 2025, the port hosted naming ceremonies for Star Princess, Disney Destiny and Celebrity Xcel.

Operational records during Kennedy’s tenure included Dec. 21, 2003, when 15 passenger ships were in port on the same day and some used cargo berths because the port then had 11 cruise terminals. Port Everglades later recorded 55,964 passenger movements on Dec. 1, 2019, surpassing a 55,885-movement day from March 3, 2016; the port now has eight cruise terminals.

Her communications work also crossed cargo and community projects, including six crane arrivals, the opening of the 1,818-space Heron Parking Garage serving Terminals 2 and 4, and Southport Turning Notch mitigation work. After 8.5 acres of mangroves were removed for cargo terminal development, the port established more than 70,000 mangroves and native plants across 16.8 acres, with channels for manatees.

Oglesby takes over external affairs and marketing

Oglesby joined Port Everglades in 2022. Her current role covers media relations, website management and social media strategy. Before joining the port, she managed corporate communications for Broward Health’s five hospitals, served as public affairs information officer for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and worked as an editor at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

“I have gained so much from Ellen, a leader who is very inclusive and has so much institutional knowledge,” Oglesby said.

Kennedy said she is “really proud and excited for Joy,” adding that Oglesby is “a go-getter” who has worked with her for several years.

A search is underway for the public information officer role Oglesby is leaving. Terminal 18 is being refreshed for Legend of the Seas, the third Icon-class ship, which is scheduled to make Port Everglades its year-round home in November.

See cruises departing Port Everglades on Cruise Lookup.