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I'm from Tampa and embarrassed!

cruzincurt

By cruzincurt,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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cruzincurt

cruzincurt

Posted
Posted

In today's paper there is the story of the Carnival Miracle not returning to the cruise docks since the harbor pilot refused to take it past an off loading fuel tanker. What a mess to bus people and truck baggage from the commerical dock. The ship was delayed departing for two hours and I'm sure many missed their connections.

 

Why didn't they get a couple of tugs to travel alongside and act as a buffer?

 

The worst memories of a cruise, IHMO, is the wait to get on and the wait to get off.

 

If Tampa wants to become a cruise port and play with the big guys they need to do something. This is not about widening the shipping channel since this is a narrow channel right near the port; can't make it any wider.

 

They want the cruise business but cry about the disruption to commercial shipping. Can't have it both ways. Whose idea was it to put the cruise terminals at the end of a very long and narrow channel?

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Tom-n-Cheryl "Live from...." Rare

Tom-n-Cheryl

Posted
Posted

Very interesting.... I sure hope they can get this resolved...

 

Sounds like a nightmare - I am surprised that Carnival set sail only 2 hours late, not too shabby, considering the situation!

 

I would seem that the Citgo area could be "clear" during the short time that the Miracle passes by (once in the early am, and then after 4pm)...:rolleyes:

 

DERF, how long does it take to unload one of those tankers???:D

 

Tom

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ken56

ken56

Posted
Posted

A few years back a fuel tanker in the saginaw river caught fire after the connection was broken to the pump hub...It burned for days.......you can guess the rest. safety is always the first concern and the wake a huge ship can make even going "slow" is incredible. I beleive they made the right decision. what would this board be talking about if "something" had happened and it endangered all those people.

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GroupCruiser

GroupCruiser

Posted
Posted

This is kind of like the old Zilwaukee Bridge. You have to just time it so the problem is not there when you are, or build a new bridge.

 

Seems the tanker could check the schedules and either wait (yeah, right), or get there earlier so as not to interfere with the cruise ships.

 

Then again, the cruise ships could adjust their schedules as well.

 

It's all about communication with each other.

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florida diver

florida diver

Posted
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It seems the only time there is a problem is when there is a tanker in the channel off loading petrol at the time the ship is departing/arriving. This time they had a shortage of fuel and the gas company decided to bring the tanker in even though they knew the ship was due. You would think the port folks would figure out that for one day a week they cannot bring a tanker in . I am willing to bet this will not happen again...cruise business is too important to get company/cruisers mad!! Happy cruising!!!

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mikeymars

mikeymars

Posted
Posted

Given the MASSIVE amount of income the hotels/retaurants and cab/limousine/van firms in Tampa make off the cruise market, you can be darn sure that local goverment is going to think twice about contuining to allow some mid-level bureaucrat at the Tampa Port Authority to make decisions about whether the city really cares about tourism.

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cruzincurt

cruzincurt

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As someone pointed out, safety is obviously the greatest concern. There was recently a fire in the hold of a sulphur freighter that took a long time to extinguish; it was not in the same channel that the cruise ships use. Tampa is a large commercal shipping port based on tonnage. As the story reports, the petro company held off scheduling deliveries at the same time for 5 weeks then went back to normal after the period expired.

 

It's just curious, being a local, that the port authority complains about the disruption of commercial ship traffic with the arrival of more cruise ships while on the other hand they want to increase the flow of cruise patrons. Recently they lowered their per passenger port charge because cruise lines we starting to look to Gulfport and other ports for lower dockage fees.

 

I started this thread just to warn travelers about potential problems that just came up and to be aware for potential planning purposes.

 

It's hard to be patient waiting in line to get on the ship. Can't wait for the vacation to start!

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jewopaho

jewopaho

Posted
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Sheesh! It's just a matter of getting used to working with a ship the size of the Miracle. Citgo agreed to refrain from docking a tanker on Sundays for a couple of months. Now that the moratorium has ended, the pilot (there must be an American in charge of any ship registered outside the US) used a bit of extra caution, since it was the first time he operated the vessel with a tanker in the channel. Carnival and the Port of Tampa have addressed the problem (they're not about to go through this every Sunday) and there will certainly be a satisfactory remedy in place. Don't worry - Tampa will continue to grow as a cruise port. If there's something to really be concerned about in the area, it most certainly is the Buccaneers!

 

Al

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JDee

JDee

Posted
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Some memories are very short. For many of the locals around Tampa Bay area, do you recall the gasoline shortage during our last hurricane season? The reason for the shortage was obvious. The Citgo gasoline tanks ashore were empty, and the tankers could not get in to unload. Gasoline shortages were all over the TV's, some very well exagarrated (Sp?). I know for a fact you could not get gasoline for 2 days because I tried. Good thing my other vehicle had a full tank. At that time, Gov Bush and many of the local politicians vowed that would never happen again. The delivery of that gasoline extends well past the local Tampa area, all up and down I-75 and I-4. Citgo supplies all those 7-11's & probably others, since even Hess stations were empty.

 

When push comes to shove, Citgo will win this one. It is more important for the local economy to be sure of gasoline availability.

 

Also recall some years ago, one of the cruise lines wanted to bring in a ship to Tampa, but it was too tall for sail under the Sunshine Skyway at high tide. Coast Guard & Corps of Eng refused to allow entry at lower tides, and rightly so.

 

I'm also from Tampa Bay and not the least bit embarassed..And I want my gasoline...icon12.gif.

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kujobie

kujobie

Posted
Posted

Yea. The Conquest class ships are too big to come under the bridge, so I doubt if you will see a large influx of new ships as most of the lines are intent on building the behemoth ships. In any case, I don't see this as a major issue. We're talking about one day a week. They'll work it out and west-central Florida will not run out of gas. I am truly concerned about my Buccaneers, though.

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cruiserlisa

cruiserlisa

Posted
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Tampa resident here. I know that the channel is narrow but I also know that there are three cruise ship terminals there and an old one (HAL used to use it) at Hookers Point. The Tampa Port Authority does want the cruise ships to come in since they generate revenue. There has been talk of re-dredging the channel for years. Yet it still isn't done. Tampa is growing and if they want the cruise ship business to grow, then they need to accomodate them. I leave on the Miracle three weeks from Sunday, and we are already being delayed til 8 pm to leave.

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jewopaho

jewopaho

Posted
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You're absolutely correct, Kujobie. In fact, Carnival had to make several structural adjustments to the Miracle, so that it could comfortably sail under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. There won't be any larger ships sailing from the Port of Tampa. There is no question but that the matter had been foreseen, and that everyone will co-exist with no adverse consequences - growing pains, nothing more. Now about them Bucs ....

 

Al

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cruzincurt

cruzincurt

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Making the channel deeper where the ships pass at the petro terminal will not solve the problem, it's the width. So use a couple of tugs as an escort. I am assuming that the Miracle is no wider than the other ships that cruise out of Tampa, just longer. Aren't most of them still sized by width to fit through the Panama Canal?

 

However, I think the Port Authority is allowing this to blow up as a means to force money out of the Feds to dredge the channel all the way out to the Skyway bridge.

 

I'm really not embarassed because Tampa is small town politics in a big town. And, being orginally from Pittsburgh..go Steelers!

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