PRESTIGIOUS “PORT OF THE YEAR 2008” HONOR AWARDED TO THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES BY PRINCESS CRUISES

SAN PEDRO, Calif. — March 6, 2009 — The nation’s number one container port today also became the world’s number one cruise port according to Princess Cruises passengers.  The Port of Los Angeles was named “Port of the Year 2008” and was selected by virtue of customer satisfaction ratings reported by passengers on each of the Line’s vessels.

“We are thrilled to receive this honor and share it with the outstanding stevedoring team at Metro Cruise Services which provides the land-side operations at our cruise terminal,” said Port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz, Ph.D.  “It is especially meaningful to us because it is the passengers who have said we are the best – we gave them a great experience to start and end their vacation, and that says it all.”

Passengers aboard Princess Cruises ships at ports around the world were provided with customer satisfaction surveys at the beginning of their journey and the forms were collected when disembarking the ship.  The seven-day Sapphire Princess sailing from Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera received the highest average score of 2008.

A leading cruise port on the west coast, the Port of Los Angeles had more than 265 cruise ships and 1,195,897 cruise passengers pass through its World Cruise Center cruise terminal in 2008.  Princess Cruises is one of three cruise lines to homeport at the Port of Los Angeles.  The others include Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and NCL.

The Port of Los Angeles, also known as “America’s Port,” has a strong commitment to developing innovative strategic and sustainable operations that benefit the economy and the quality of life for the region and the nation it serves. A recipient of numerous environmental awards, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 Clean Air Excellence Award, the Port of Los Angeles is committed to innovating cleaner, greener ways of doing business. As the leading seaport in North America in terms of shipping container volume and cargo value, the Port generates 919,000 regional jobs and $39.1 billion in annual wages and tax revenues. A proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles, the Port is self-supporting and does not receive taxpayer dollars. The Port of Los Angeles - A cleaner port. A brighter future.