Cruising from Charleston SC, No longer after 2024

[Guest BasicSailor]

 

BasicSailor you cannot copy and paste  copyrighted material onto Cruise Critic but you can link articles as the post below has done. I did not want this important information to disappear by deleting your post so took liberty of editing.  Bummed to see this as we are in NC and Charleston is so convenient but felt it coming for a while.

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by Host Carolyn

[Buck64]

Hate to hear this.  Charleston our closest port.  Was hoping to eventually get a new port built in Charleston.  Maybe Myrtle Beach or more cruises from Norfolk.

Here's the link:

https://www.live5news.com/2022/05/25/sc-ports-will-not-extend-homeport-cruising-contract-after-2024/

[pirate4me2]

Darn, that is our closest homeport! However I do have to say the setup is less than ideal.  Maybe once they redo the terminal they will contract with Carnival again...

[a,j,&fam]

Not able say that I shock.  The citizens of Charleston has been do everything they can to push the cruise ship out.   Be interesting Carnival will do , if that be going north or taping in to Savannah. Is Moblie able take on Sunshine?

[mz-s]

Hate to hear this, I have cruised out of Charleston very often as it is an easy drive. I hope that Carnival can find a suitable port nearby to replace this very important homeport.

[Guest BasicSailor]

3 hours ago, BasicSailor said:

 

BasicSailor you cannot copy and paste  copyrighted material onto Cruise Critic but you can link articles as the post below has done. I did not want this important information to disappear by deleting your post so took liberty of editing.  Bummed to see this as we are in NC and Charleston is so convenient but felt it coming for a while.

 

Did not copy paste anything, it was posted under my own words.

[CarnivalShips480]

I was surprised when I saw it. Its interesting. Since Freedom or any other ship isn't doing the Miami/Seattle split, I think it could do Alaska.

 

Being near these ports, I would like Sunshine to do year round from Norfolk or New York City.

Edited May 25, 2022 by CarnivalShips480

[shof515]

6 minutes ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

Being near these ports, I would like Sunshine to do year round from Norfolk or New York City.

Carnival tried year round sailings out of NYC in 2013-2014 with the Carnival Splendor. I guess it never worked out for Carnival which why they stopped doing it

 

I would love more options sailing out of NYC with Carnival. I kind of hate that Carnival is only seasonal with sailing out of NYC for only 3-4 months

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

Darn, that is our closest homeport! However I do have to say the setup is less than ideal.  Maybe once they redo the terminal they will contract with Carnival again...

Well, it was indeed a strange boarding port.  But at least it was the only port that allowed handicapped parking for free. It looks to be with all those condo buildings they constructed right by the port that the city by indeed extend that right to build, right over the old port area.

[Seashell337]

I’m sad to see Carnival not sailing out of Charleston, too. We have cruised out of there several times. But, the locals didn’t really like having the cruise ships docking there. I have looked at sailings from Norfolk, it’s just a bit further than Charleston for us. Can’t wait to see what they offer!

[CarnivalShips480]

1 minute ago, Seashell337 said:

I’m sad to see Carnival not sailing out of Charleston, too. We have cruised out of there several times. But, the locals didn’t really like having the cruise ships docking there. I have looked at sailings from Norfolk, it’s just a bit further than Charleston for us. Can’t wait to see what they offer!

I've been waiting for the 2024 deployments

[Itried4498]

10 minutes ago, shof515 said:

Carnival tried year round sailings out of NYC in 2013-2014 with the Carnival Splendor. I guess it never worked out for Carnival which why they stopped doing it

 

I would love more options sailing out of NYC with Carnival. I kind of hate that Carnival is only seasonal with sailing out of NYC for only 3-4 months

 

I'm certain there will be numerous changes in scheduled itineraries, assigned ships, etc. by 2024, as we adjust to a post-pandemic era.  That's especially true if the legacy cruise passengers don't return / don't return in the pre-pandemic frequency.  But I wouldn't look for year-round NYC service... Carnival's fleet is optimized for sun destinations, and with the loss of numerous ships throughout the Carnival Corporation network, there's more money to be made elsewhere.

[CarnivalShips480]

1 minute ago, Itried4498 said:

 

I'm certain there will be numerous changes in scheduled itineraries, assigned ships, etc. by 2024, as we adjust to a post-pandemic era.  That's especially true if the legacy cruise passengers don't return / don't return in the pre-pandemic frequency.  But I wouldn't look for year-round NYC service... Carnival's fleet is optimized for sun destinations, and with the loss of numerous ships throughout the Carnival Corporation network, there's more money to be made elsewhere.

Where do you think it should go?

[Itried4498]

4 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Well, it was indeed a strange boarding port.  But at least it was the only port that allowed handicapped parking for free. It looks to be with all those condo buildings they constructed right by the port that the city by indeed extend that right to build, right over the old port area.

 

I'm sure there's more to this story.  I wouldn't be surprised if Charleston tried to negotiate a contract extension with Carnival, but at rate & terms Carnival wouldn't agree to, and thus it opted to proceed without Carnival.

[Itried4498]

1 minute ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

Where do you think it should go?

 

I think anything can happen within the next two years.  Yesterday, Carnival's stock was trading at its lowest since the 1990s.  It could very well be that by 2024, Carnival Corp has merged the Princess & Holland America brands, brining a few more ships to the Carnival brand, and increasingly using Carnival on a global scale to backfill budget cruises to its primary brands.

[Knights on the Beach]

4 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

 

I think anything can happen within the next two years.  Yesterday, Carnival's stock was trading at its lowest since the 1990s.  It could very well be that by 2024, Carnival Corp has merged the Princess & Holland America brands, brining a few more ships to the Carnival brand, and increasingly using Carnival on a global scale to backfill budget cruises to its primary brands.

 

I thought the low was $11.60 yesterday - did you see it lower than that?

[BlerkOne]

5 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

 

I think anything can happen within the next two years.  Yesterday, Carnival's stock was trading at its lowest since the 1990s.  It could very well be that by 2024, Carnival Corp has merged the Princess & Holland America brands, brining a few more ships to the Carnival brand, and increasingly using Carnival on a global scale to backfill budget cruises to its primary brands.

NCL and Royal stocks are also in the toilet. I do see CCL has started stock buybacks again at these levels. Carnival has also picked up an extra billion in unsecured notes to refinance some of the existing debt.

[ScottsSweetie]

38 minutes ago, Itried4498 said:

 

I'm sure there's more to this story.  I wouldn't be surprised if Charleston tried to negotiate a contract extension with Carnival, but at rate & terms Carnival wouldn't agree to, and thus it opted to proceed without Carnival.

Perhaps. But the "old money" establishment in Charleston was never happy with the cruising industry being there. Many establishments downtown had fliers on their windows stating such. And since I'm such an empathetic person I made them happy by not entering their establishment. My "new money" talks, too.

[audcc77]

11 minutes ago, ScottsSweetie said:

But the "old money" establishment in Charleston was never happy with the cruising industry being there. Many establishments downtown had fliers on their windows stating such

LOL. It must be that southern hospitality I keep hearing about since taking early retirement here in SC three years ago.   🙄 

[mz-s]

I hope that this means Norfolk gets some better itineraries and a full-time ship. Norfolk is actually an hour closer to me than Charleston, but I've never sailed out of Norfolk because those voyages were always more expensive and not offered at times I like to cruise. But a year-round ship (or ships, if the terminal can accommodate multiple) would be awesome. Otherwise it's going to be flying to Miami or Canaveral for me.

[Guest BasicSailor]

Wilmington NC could be an option if they were to build a port for cruise ships.  I just don't think any cruise ship will be able to trend enough water to make it as it currently stands

[JT1962]

If the staffing and supply line issues continue, I can see other smaller non-traditional ports (Norfolk, Jacksonville, Mobile, etc.) lose their home port status as well. It seems much easier to move a ship to a larger port where there is already staff and logistics contracts in place than to try to continue to maintain those in a port with only 1-2 departures per week.

[pc_load_letter]

Meh, sailed once from there when we did the fly in, stay at the hotel and leave the next day. After arriving back, we stayed a couple more days. Was a nice time but I much prefer New Orleans.

[mz-s]

32 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

If the staffing and supply line issues continue, I can see other smaller non-traditional ports (Norfolk, Jacksonville, Mobile, etc.) lose their home port status as well. It seems much easier to move a ship to a larger port where there is already staff and logistics contracts in place than to try to continue to maintain those in a port with only 1-2 departures per week.

 

I tend to agree - Carnival (and the industry at large) has to get back to level before they can look at expanding service.

[jsglow]

No skin off my nose.  What I'd LOVE to see is for Carnival to redeploy a now 'extra available' ship (Sunshine is fine) back to San Juan.  We sailed Destiny when she was home ported there.  I think she knows how to go home.