Port of Corpus Christie????

Was listening to our local early morning news this morning and this is what I heard, Quote" You may soon be taking a cruise out of Corpus Christi, Texas. The cruise lines are in talks and negotiations with the city of CorpusChristi about turning it into a cruise port. The talks seem to be going well. Tune in!!!" Unquote. Sounds interesting???:)

I hope its a new cruiseline choice then .. something other than RCL or Carnival.

Wish someone would use the new port in Houston.

That would be great for us. We already have a place in Rockport which is just north of CC. It is around a 2hr drive for us, vs the 4hr drive to Galveston.

Would love to see that happen, regardless of the line that set up shop there.

Don't start packing your bags...

If the cruise terminal were to be located downtown the Bay Bridge would have to be replaced. It's too low for any modern cruise ship to pass under.

The only reasonable location would be Port Aransas where the Texas Treasure gambling ship used to sail from. There's a huge turning basin very close but, still, a new dock and terminal would have to be constructed. I'd guess the price to be well north of $60 million.

Consider the fate of Bayport cruise terminal in Houston. It was constructed at a cost of $82 million over three years ago and it sits vacant. The only ships that have sailed from there were the Ecstasy and the Conquest for one month following Hurricane Ike.

With east coast ports, Gulf ports begging for ships I'd be amazed if Corpus could pull it off...

(Yeah, I've been researching this for a while myself... :))

That would be GREAT!! Another cruise port for Texas.:)

I'm with Mach on this one. There was talk about Brownsville being a crusie port as well. CC is a long drive from major Texas cities with good direct airport connections (Houston, Dallas) or even secondary airports like San Antonio or Austin. You can get connections from Dallas and Houston but only on the affiliates of Continental and American and some infrequent Southwest flights. Makes getting there and getting home not too easy. Brownsville is even further away and only 3-4 flights in and out a day.

That said, CC is a great place to visit with some good restaurants and a nice museum and the Lexington and the dog track.

Don't start packing your bags...

 

If the cruise terminal were to be located downtown the Bay Bridge would have to be replaced. It's too low for any modern cruise ship to pass under.

 

The only reasonable location would be Port Aransas where the Texas Treasure gambling ship used to sail from. There's a huge turning basin very close but, still, a new dock and terminal would have to be constructed. I'd guess the price to be well north of $60 million.

 

Consider the fate of Bayport cruise terminal in Houston. It was constructed at a cost of $82 million over three years ago and it sits vacant. The only ships that have sailed from there were the Ecstasy and the Conquest for one month following Hurricane Ike.

 

With east coast ports, Gulf ports begging for ships I'd be amazed if Corpus could pull it off...

 

(Yeah, I've been researching this for a while myself... :))

All I can say to this is...not exactly!!! There are other options and the cruise lines ar looking at Corpus and it is very viable! Since I live in Corpus I obviously think it would be a great option. :D Stay tuned....

Oh I so hope that one day we will see a cruise ship in this area....Like Mach said I don't know how it would happen in the Port of CC because of the Harbor bridge, but Port Aransas is a great area too, and I know Rep. Todd Hunter is working hard and furious on this, so who knows....we could sure use something like a cruise terminal to boost the visitor and economic growth down here.....:)

All I can say to this is...not exactly!!! There are other options and the cruise lines ar looking at Corpus and it is very viable! Since I live in Corpus I obviously think it would be a great option. :D Stay tuned....

I live in San Antonio and there's nothing I'd like better than to have a cruise terminal two hours away. I've been promoting this for years with folks at Carnival but I just don't see it happening. Well, let me restate that, a cruise terminal MAY get built but I fear it will suffer the same fate as Bayport... go begging for a ship with no results...

:)

Living in San Antonio, I would LOVE a port closer to home, but I'm not too picky - as long as I can drive to a port where it doesn't take me an entire day of driving to get there, I'm happy

I live in San Antonio and there's nothing I'd like better than to have a cruise terminal two hours away. I've been promoting this for years with folks at Carnival but I just don't see it happening. Well, let me restate that, a cruise terminal MAY get built but I fear it will suffer the same fate as Bayport... go begging for a ship with no results...

 

:)

Keep promoting....it might be closer than you think!:D

I am wondering..Why is the Houston port empty??? Why won't cruise lines dock there?

Thanks,

Carla

I too think it would be great, although I probably wouldn't sail out of there because they will most likely put one of the oldest ships there, and I am a fan of the newer ones. I will stick with Galveston, but I am still hoping Bayport will get a ship or two one day.

Also, Customs (CBP) would have to drastically increase their numbers down there in order to support a cruise terminal, which is something that would take years (and lots of money) to do. So, although it could happen, it would likely be several years at the very least.

I am wondering..Why is the Houston port empty??? Why won't cruise lines dock there?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Carla

There's a few reasons... there are virtually NO facilities near the port... no hotels... no restaurants... no bars and no tourist attractions to speak of. Sure, you might be able to get a shuttle service to visit the Space Center but that would only happen if folks had some place to stay near the terminal!

Next, the facility was built as a selling point for the HUGE container port that's visible from the cruise terminal... kind of an afterthought to get voters to approve the bond issue:

There's parking for less than 800 vehicles available. I had to park way off in the grass to the west.

It was constructed using the Field of Dreams philosophy... if you build it they will come. Well, no field of dreams here...

:rolleyes:

Everyone we need your help to get a cruise ship in Corpus Christi area. Our State rep and senator or purposeing a bill this year in state house. We do have a wonderful port already in place in Ingleside where the Navy base closed last year. Ingleside is 9miles across the bay to Corpus, very near Port Aransas and North Padra Island.. we have lots to offer. If you are a Texan contact your state reps and tel them to support us or talk with Todd Hunter who will indroduce the bill hopefully shortly.

I agree with Retired Nurse- Ingleside was set up fo those large Navy ships they also added Hotels, and a few Restaurants. Several vacations /resort area are close- Port Aransas, Rockport, and Corpus Christi. We get a lot of visitor's all year long due to the winter Texan's. And our Airport is almost as large as San Antonio and I have checked rates they are the same if you fly out of Corpus or San Antonio! My son-in-law is a pilot for Express jet and they have several flights per day out of here, his father is a pilot for Southwest and they also have several per day coming and going out of Corpus. Why Houston didn't work is that it is too close to Galveston, and the cruise lines don't feel the need to have 2 of them 45 minutes apart. Corpus is closer to San Antonio area as well of all of South Texas. So I hope one day we will get a cruise line! Julie G.

Everyone we need your help to get a cruise ship in Corpus Christi area. Our State rep and senator or purposeing a bill this year in state house.

What would a state bill do? It's not like they can legislate a boat being there.

Yeah, 800 parking spots isn't nearly enough. I am wondering what percentage of cruisers out of Galveston are local (or within driving distance) and drive to the port and really wouldn't care too much about tourist attractions and or facilities. Living in Houston, I would be stoked to have more options, and be able to get to a cruise terminal within a half hour from my house, and I wouldn't care about the lack of restaurants/hotels etc. I am sure additional parking lots could be built in the area and then provide shuttle service to the terminal. As for the airports, both Hobby and IAH are a lot closer to Bayport than they are to Galveston.

Personally, when I didn't live in the area, I would have never thought about cruising out of Texas because the prices were (almost) always higher and (in the past) the ships were older and less exciting. If I had to fly somewhere to get on a ship, it would most likely be Miami/FLL/Port Canaveral where all the newest and more exciting ships went.

I live north of the city, so I'm not too familiar with the area, but it's not too far from Hobby, right? Maybe 15 mins? and isn't the Kemah Boardwalk just a few miles away? If The Bayport terminal did end up getting a contract, I think things would pop up....kind of an opposite approach to the Field of Dreams idea....if they come, they will build.

I am an avid cruiser and I do not plan on moving anytime soon. I want more cruising options without having to fly to Florida or drive another 4-5 hours to New Orleans! We are the 4th largest city in the nation! We can support more ships. Once my kids are both over 2 years old, I can easily see us cruising at least twice a year. I even convinced my in-laws to take their first cruise (out of Galveston) in 2009....if there were more ships, more itineraries and more competative prices, I think more and more people would try cruising and it would be very lucrative for the state of Texas.

Yeah, 800 parking spots isn't nearly enough. I am wondering what percentage of cruisers out of Galveston are local (or within driving distance) and drive to the port and really wouldn't care too much about tourist attractions and or facilities. Living in Houston, I would be stoked to have more options, and be able to get to a cruise terminal within a half hour from my house, and I wouldn't care about the lack of restaurants/hotels etc. I am sure additional parking lots could be built in the area and then provide shuttle service to the terminal. As for the airports, both Hobby and IAH are a lot closer to Bayport than they are to Galveston.

 

Personally, when I didn't live in the area, I would have never thought about cruising out of Texas because the prices were (almost) always higher and (in the past) the ships were older and less exciting. If I had to fly somewhere to get on a ship, it would most likely be Miami/FLL/Port Canaveral where all the newest and more exciting ships went.

 

I live north of the city, so I'm not too familiar with the area, but it's not too far from Hobby, right? Maybe 15 mins? and isn't the Kemah Boardwalk just a few miles away? If The Bayport terminal did end up getting a contract, I think things would pop up....kind of an opposite approach to the Field of Dreams idea....if they come, they will build.

 

I am an avid cruiser and I do not plan on moving anytime soon. I want more cruising options without having to fly to Florida or drive another 4-5 hours to New Orleans! We are the 4th largest city in the nation! We can support more ships. Once my kids are both over 2 years old, I can easily see us cruising at least twice a year. I even convinced my in-laws to take their first cruise (out of Galveston) in 2009....if there were more ships, more itineraries and more competative prices, I think more and more people would try cruising and it would be very lucrative for the state of Texas.

Obviously, I didn't glance at my post above after I submitted it... I just changed out the second picture. NOW you can see the vehicles parked in the grass toward the top of the image. Those vehicles that are aligned east and west are on the black top. There were just as many parked in the grass off the the left hand side of the picture. Nope... no where near enough parking but an excellent facility.

Regarding the bill that will or has been presented to the Texas Legislature, blindrid is right. A bill can only fund the construction of the terminal facility, not bring a ship. As I mentioned previously, every cruise ship in the world is committed to a port right now. The last time the folks in Houston checked it would be until next year before any of the current contracts expire and there's no way to get a facility constructed in Corpus before then.

I think it's a brilliant idea... just not the right time...

:)

In addition to the problems Mach mentioned, there are a couple of other factors

First is a real reluctance on the part of the cruise lines to add the Houston Ship channel to the mix. The added distance will add several hours and lots of dollars in pilot fees on a good day. On a bad day, fog, congestion and accidents can completely close the ship channel to traffic. Once reopened, traffic is routed on a priority basis and cruise ships are not at the top of the list.

Second is the infrastructure and improvements that Carnival and RCCL have installed in Galveston. The Port of Galveston owns the improvements and I suspect the cruise lines do not want to abandon them.

I'm from Corpus originally and I don't think I would EVER take a cruise out of Corpus. But, thats just my opinion.

Would love to see Celebrity sail out of CC...Houston or Galveston!!! We would do that in a heartbeat!!!! Come on down Celebrity...even with an older ship!!! :D