need new ports from Galveston

[gay head]

We live in Houston and have been on the Magic three times We have done the Roaton Belize run twice and the Cayman Jamaica run once.I dont want to do the Key West Nassau run because I have been to both places .I wonder if they will ever change the itinerary to include Antigua and Grand Turk or do you have to fly to Ft Lauderdale to do this.I Does anyone know of an email address where I could write them ?

[Cruisin Dave]

Check out John Heald's Blog or his FB page. You can send him questions. He is the senior CD for Carnival.

[k2excursion]

I'm with you on this. Best of luck with your requests. The Virgin Islands, Antigua, & those ports around those are probably too far to reach for a 7-day cruise. But I don't know why they can't throw in a 10-day & 11-day sailing every few months to go to those nice places, and just charge 50% more than they would for a 7-day. For Texas & Oklahoma people, a higher cruise fare still comes out cheaper than having to travel to Florida. I would do one of those sailings in a heartbeat. One of many possibilities:

 

Day 1 - Emarkation

Day 2 - at sea

Day 3 - at sea

Day 4 - Grand Turk

Day 5 - St Thomas

Day 6 - Antigua

Day 7 - St Maarten / St Kitts

Day 8 - at sea

Day 9 - at sea

Day 10- Playa del Carmen (Calica)

Day 11- at sea

[Rudyard]

Perhaps they could do it on a 7-day cruise if they only stopped at two ports instead of three? Maybe what they would lose in excursion revenue they would make up in alcohol sales and in the casino on the extra sea day.

 

I don't think they could make it to the Virgin Islands, but a stop in the Turks & Caicos might be doable. The second port could be either Jamaica or Grand Cayman.

[forwardcabin]

We would like to see them include Costa Maya as an alternative to Progresso on the Triumph cruises. Or they could alternate between Belize and Costa Maya on the Magic cruises.

[overthehillcruiser]

I surely agree with Forwardcabin on Progreso.I talked with John Heald on the Magic on it's inaugural from Galveston, and he told me there would be some trial 10 day cruises from the Galveston on the Magic to the southern caribbean, even gave me dates..Sure looks like that didn't happen since he told me July 2013 to start..We are just about burned out as well. Will be going to Roatan for the 5th time in March, and have it booked again with RCCL Navigator for Nov 16/ 2014 because it was such a good deal and will visit Costa Maya instead of Belize..I have e mailed and asked on the phone for different itineraries with no success. It seems as popular as cruising is from Texas they would make some changes. We are lucky though to be so close and not pay airfare, which has prevented us from doing a Med cruise.

[BusyBlond]

I surely agree with Forwardcabin on Progreso.I talked with John Heald on the Magic on it's inaugural from Galveston, and he told me there would be some trial 10 day cruises from the Galveston on the Magic to the southern caribbean, even gave me dates..Sure looks like that didn't happen since he told me July 2013 to start..We are just about burned out as well. Will be going to Roatan for the 5th time in March, and have it booked again with RCCL Navigator for Nov 16/ 2014 because it was such a good deal and will visit Costa Maya instead of Belize..I have e mailed and asked on the phone for different itineraries with no success. It seems as popular as cruising is from Texas they would make some changes. We are lucky though to be so close and not pay airfare, which has prevented us from doing a Med cruise.

 

Hey, I'm planning on booking the Navigator on Nov 16th as well and for the exact same reason. While I've been to Costa Maya several times, I prefer not to tender if I can help it.

[andy.capitan]

Anything over 7 days is harder for working people to get the time off plus fuel costs and wear and tear on the ship would be prohibitive.

 

Costa Maya should be doable, but can only handle so many ships and is probably full. Plus sometimes the weather doesn't allow docking there.

 

Veracruz is about the only other port I can think of and not sure you would want to go there.

[lady_cruiser]

We live in Houston and have been on the Magic three times We have done the Roaton Belize run twice and the Cayman Jamaica run once.I dont want to do the Key West Nassau run because I have been to both places .I wonder if they will ever change the itinerary to include Antigua and Grand Turk or do you have to fly to Ft Lauderdale to do this.I Does anyone know of an email address where I could write them ?

 

Its about three hours further but how about driving to New Orleans? We are lucky because we live 3 hours from New Orleans and 3 1/2 hours from Galveston.

 

But I agree. Taking a cruise from either NOLA or Galveston that heads to the U.S. Virgin Islands would be awesome. Even if it means a few extra days at seas.

[crewsweeper]

Anything over 7 days is harder for working people to get the time off plus fuel costs and wear and tear on the ship would be prohibitive.

 

Costa Maya should be doable, but can only handle so many ships and is probably full. Plus sometimes the weather doesn't allow docking there.

 

Veracruz is about the only other port I can think of and not sure you would want to go there.

 

I see ZERO cruise ships going to Veracruz these days. It's more of a working port. It does have some interesting colonial history and I think the nearest Aztec ruins are just a bit north. The boca del rio area to the south has good beaches. The Jarocho regional cooking is very interesting blend and somewhat unique to Mexico. At one time in the late 90s there were a number of excellent cafes serving the local variants of cafe con leche.

 

While it may look viable on a small map, when you take a closer look and estimate the mileage getting to even Grand Turk and back is a push on a 7 day. I would think it would take a 10-15 day cruise to get in even a stop at Limon in Costa Rica (and there's nothing between Roatan and Limon). Aruba might work with a GC stop going and a Ocho stop coming back but note that out of Miami, the Breeze Southern stopping at Aruba and Curacao is an 8 dayer.

[overthehillcruiser]

They have some pretty good deals on this cruise now through the Houston based online agency I use, up to $165 OBC..

Hey, I'm planning on booking the Navigator on Nov 16th as well and for the exact same reason. While I've been to Costa Maya several times, I prefer not to tender if I can help it.

[PlanoTim]

We would like to see them include Costa Maya as an alternative to Progresso on the Triumph cruises. Or they could alternate between Belize and Costa Maya on the Magic cruises.

 

Another option might be Calica. We went to Calica (Punta Venado) on the Elation in 2005 (I think). Calica is just south of Playa Del Carmen. The port looks like a rock quary, has no shops whatsoever, and isn't big at all. It may not be able to handle larger ships. But since it is on the mainland, it allowed for easier excursions to places like Tulum and Xel-ha National Park.

[forwardcabin]

What happened to Cancun and Playa del Carmen as ports of call?

[Branman]

Another option might be Calica. We went to Calica (Punta Venado) on the Elation in 2005 (I think). Calica is just south of Playa Del Carmen. The port looks like a rock quary, has no shops whatsoever, and isn't big at all. It may not be able to handle larger ships. But since it is on the mainland, it allowed for easier excursions to places like Tulum and Xel-ha National Park.

 

Carnival is building a new cruise port in Calica. They announced that back in March of 2012. I don't know when it is supposed to open, and there hasn't been much news since the original announcement.

[overthehillcruiser]

We went to Calica in 2004 on the Celebration. The beach we went to was beautiful, but a pretty long bus ride from where we docked..I sure would choose this over Progreso..

[overthehillcruiser]

One link I found..

 

http://gocaribbean.about.com/b/2012/04/09/carnival-eyes-calica-as-new-mexican-caribbean-cruise-port.htm

[k2excursion]

What happened to Cancun and Playa del Carmen as ports of call?

 

I don't know if Cancun has ever had cruise ships dock there. When people mention Playa del Carmen as a port of call, they actually docked at Calica. You have to take a cab to get to Playa del Carmen. The port of Calica is nothing and has nothing, but it's location is amazing! You can do so many things out of this port, including just taking a cab to PDC for a beautiful beach day. I docked at Calica on Holiday in 2009. In late 2005, ships out of Galveston & NOLA stopped going to Calica on 5-day cruises, and switched it to Progreso. Only Mobile cruises kept Calica, then Carnival dumped Mobile. I still have no clue as to why they don't go to Calica, for the proximity to PDC, Cancun, Mayan ruins, etc, etc, etc, etc.

 

In 2004, we got rerouted from Calica to Progreso mid-cruise because Hurricane Ivan was busy slaughtering the PDC/Cozumel area. It was one of the first ships to ever stop in Progreso, so we were told. They handled us well, and it was a fun day. Somehow, they won over Carnival in a big way, to get them to dump Calica. On that sailing, we also had Cozumel cancelled, and we went to Veracruz. No point to ever make that a cruise stop. They had no clue what to do with us, and there's not much to do.

Edited January 10, 2014 by k2excursion