Houston building a "state of the art" cruise terminal?? (Merged threads)

[alonzo14]

MSC would be the answer with their 10-day cruises. Let's hope the rumors are true.:)

 

I don't totally go by reviews but the ones for MSC are very bad. I'm not sure I want them here.

[dforeigner]

Over on the Princess boards, the posters indicated PCL wasn't profitable or profitable enough sailing out of GAL. I saw a Princess ship (didn't catch the name) there on my tour of the Carnival Conquest in 8/06, so Princess left Galveston less than two years ago.

 

The profits were there. The Grand Princess always sailed full. The main profits for the ships are Auctions, Excursions, Alcohol. The main problem was that the Port would not give them priority in Galveston and had to play second place behind the Carnival ships.

 

The hot market right now is Alaska and Europe. Who knows if Europe will still be hot since the value of the US Dollar has gone down the drain. Only the future will tell.

[LONESTAR 101]

The profits were there. The Grand Princess always sailed full. The main profits for the ships are Auctions, Excursions, Alcohol. The main problem was that the Port would not give them priority in Galveston and had to play second place behind the Carnival ships.

 

The hot market right now is Alaska and Europe. Who knows if Europe will still be hot since the value of the US Dollar has gone down the drain. Only the future will tell.

 

 

 

'AMEN'!";)

[TexBear]

The profits were there. The Grand Princess always sailed full. The main profits for the ships are Auctions, Excursions, Alcohol. The main problem was that the Port would not give them priority in Galveston and had to play second place behind the Carnival ships.

 

The hot market right now is Alaska and Europe. Who knows if Europe will still be hot since the value of the US Dollar has gone down the drain. Only the future will tell.

 

Europe is cooling off with the unfavorable exchange rate. Carnival pulled the Freedom from its planned Med. cruises.

[yst347]

Europe is only cooling off for Americans. The weak dollar makes the European market more attractive for cruise lines, not less. I see an older NCL ship getting a sweetheart deal for sailing from Bayport because of the egg caked all over our local county officials' faces. MSC sailing from Bayport while the dollar is trading for less than .70 euro's is nothing short of a pipe dream.

 

Ships can be filled from any major port at a given price. Ships have filled nicely from the Texas coast at higher per-diems than Florida in the past few years. But converting currency, the European market is just far more attractive given current economic circumstances. :mad:

[CGBCruiser]

Europe is cooling off with the unfavorable exchange rate. Carnival pulled the Freedom from its planned Med. cruises.

 

Actually I have heard this same thing...that with the high airline ticket prices the market in the Mediterranean was starting to cool off and that cruiselines were thinking of repositioning some of those ships back to the Caribbean market which remains strong and more readily available to US customers. Time will tell...

[gescn]

Europe is only cooling off for Americans. The weak dollar makes the European market more attractive for cruise lines, not less. I see an older NCL ship getting a sweetheart deal for sailing from Bayport because of the egg caked all over our local county officials' faces. MSC sailing from Bayport while the dollar is trading for less than .70 euro's is nothing short of a pipe dream.

 

Ships can be filled from any major port at a given price. Ships have filled nicely from the Texas coast at higher per-diems than Florida in the past few years. But converting currency, the European market is just far more attractive given current economic circumstances. :mad:

 

 

I agree with this statement, but can someone tell me why there are still so many ships in Florida that are sailing at really discounted rates, when someone could send another ship or two to Texas and sail at higher rates-- especially since Galveston is easier for many to drive to?? Do you think it's all because of the limited itinerary?

[TexBear]

I agree with this statement, but can someone tell me why there are still so many ships in Florida that are sailing at really discounted rates, when someone could send another ship or two to Texas and sail at higher rates-- especially since Galveston is easier for many to drive to?? Do you think it's all because of the limited itinerary?

 

There are plenty of southern routes cruise ships could take from Galveston: on a 7 day, a ship at 20 knots could likely make it to Belize, Guatemala; Roatan, Honduras; any suitable Caribbean port in Nicaragua, or even Limon, Costa Rica. The possibilities for 10 day and longer cruises just increases! It would be feasible to get to Cartegena, Columbia and the islands like Aruba and Curacao on those trips. There's no need to limit the itineraries to round-trips, either.

 

Eastern 7 day sailings from Galveston or New Orleans might include: Grand Cayman, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas.

 

Seems like cruise lines like to play it safe with Texas sailings!

[Capt. Mike]

I have stop trying to second guess the cruise lines. We sailed on the Crown Princess out of PR in December and the Dawn Princess out of SD in April and in both cases our balcony room was less than a ocean view out of Galveston, 20 miles from my home. We got $248 RT to San Juan on Continental and used our points for a LUV flight to San Diego and it was about the same cost INCLUDING AIR!! Has anyone ever gone on any cruise out of Galvez that wasn't fully booked? I have been several times at different times of the year on three (3) different cruise lines and each and every time it has been full.

 

Captain Mike

Master Mariner/Retired

[LONESTAR 101]

I have stop trying to second guess the cruise lines. We sailed on the Crown Princess out of PR in December and the Dawn Princess out of SD in April and in both cases our balcony room was less than a ocean view out of Galveston, 20 miles from my home. We got $248 RT to San Juan on Continental and used our points for a LUV flight to San Diego and it was about the same cost INCLUDING AIR!! Has anyone ever gone on any cruise out of Galvez that wasn't fully booked? I have been several times at different times of the year on three (3) different cruise lines and each and every time it has been full.

 

Captain Mike

Master Mariner/Retired

 

 

Captain Mike Im hoping that well have another midsize ship come into Bayport or to galveston, I was told last year by a taxi Driver that Two ships were coming back into galveston and they were going to build more piers to hold them:rolleyes:, we shall see,since as you say and Ive seen in 8 years of cruising from Galveston they have always been full!! And think if Cuba is ever opened up for tourists as a cruise destination,who knows what Galveston and Houston will turn into like Florida's ports!!:eek: ;).

[Julie Koefoot]

TexBear,

 

what do you mean by the cruiselines want to play it safe in Texas.

There was a time when there were 3 lines going out of Galveston

and I always wondered what happened. I assumed they weren't making the

profit they wanted or felt they neeed.

 

Julie

[Rockportgirl]

The Bayport Cruise Terminal plans to serve various cruise lines. The Port of Houston Authority is currently continuing discussions with a number of cruise brands. The cruise brands should make final decisions for cruises sailing in the fall of 2009 by June 2008.

 

This was on their website in April, and it hasn't been updated since. I left a message for the cruise manager at the Houston Port Authority inquiring if they've had any cruise lines commit yet. If she calls me back, I'll let ya'll know. :)

[TexBear]

TexBear,

 

what do you mean by the cruiselines want to play it safe in Texas.

There was a time when there were 3 lines going out of Galveston

and I always wondered what happened. I assumed they weren't making the

profit they wanted or felt they neeed.

 

Julie

 

I don't know what terms the Port of Galveston charges the cruise lines, but Carnival definitely has the best arrangement from all appearances. Given the options now available, it looks to the casual observer that cruise lines are "playing it safe" with Galveston by sailing limited itineraries.

 

In August 2006, I saw the Grand Princess when I toured the Conquest and I know that RCL has occassional sailings from there. The main detractor for more cruises there is that Galveston is basically a freight/commercial terminal. Disembarkation was a mess in 10/06!

[alonzo14]

Thanks RockportGirl!!! With airfare being as it is I do hope they can get some lines to commit. I wish Holland America would consider coming to Texas. Or Princess would return to Texas. I don't think they will return very soon though.

[CGBCruiser]

We've cruised out of Galveston 4 times and really, I didn't think disembarkation was any worse than it was out of Ft. Lauderdale. When we got off the ship in Port Everglades I have never seen such a massive amount of baggage in my life. We had a long line there too. I will say that with the new customs and immigration laws that have gone into effect, it definitely slows down the lines when they have to process the international passengers. I sure wish RCCL would bring back ship that sails out of Galveston year round!!!

[love2sale]

I just wanna hear for sure what we are going to get.

[LONESTAR 101]

The Bayport Cruise Terminal plans to serve various cruise lines. The Port of Houston Authority is currently continuing discussions with a number of cruise brands. The cruise brands should make final decisions for cruises sailing in the fall of 2009 by June 2008.

 

This was on their website in April, and it hasn't been updated since. I left a message for the cruise manager at the Houston Port Authority inquiring if they've had any cruise lines commit yet. If she calls me back, I'll let ya'll know. :)

 

 

Hey rockportgirl,ive been in contact with The Manager as well but by E-Mail, if she calls you back id be suprised and also I have to contact her all the time for the updates as well, so between both of us we should keep everyone informed,they dont update the site and wont until they get ready to get the Terminal up and running, the manager wont tell me "WHO" is coming in because the last I heard from her is that they were still under contract discussions with two Major cruise lines,and couldnt discuss which cruise lines are coming in,also they are going to build two more terminals as well later on so it will be 4 Ships!!:eek:. We drive down from Ft.Worth,Texas and weve sailed 8 times out of Galveston 4 On RCCL Rhapsody and the fourth coming up in September this year!!:On The Conquest) :cool:.

[karenh1127]

We have sailed out of Galveston 2x and debarking was not bad at all. Our last in Mar on Conquest the lines were horribly long but we paid a porter $20 and he took us to the front of the line! Best money spent the whole cruise!!! I live about 8 minutes from the Bayport so I would sure love any cruiseline there! Thanks to those keeping us informed!

[Julie Koefoot]

Karenh1127,

 

Sounds like a good idea but how did the other passengers feel? Does anyone know if you can pay an exta fee for early boarding?

 

How optimistic should we really be about this new terminal? we have been waiting a long time!

 

Julie

[Host Kat]

... The main detractor for more cruises there is that Galveston is basically a freight/commercial terminal...

, Bayport is just like Galveston... a container/commercial site with a cruise terminal thrown in. The big $$ for them is in the commercial side of their business, not the cruise side just as it is in Galveston.

 

Galveston secures $28m infrastructure loan

 

http://www.cruise-community.com/ShowStory.asp?ID=14630

 

Hopefully, the "modernizing channel front berths to accommodate larger vessels" includes the cruise terminals.

 

You may need to register to read the Seatrade Insider News article.

Kat

[txskier]

I'm ready to book a cruise from the new Houston Terminal. Waiting on the announcement to award some cruise line my business. Keep putting off booking for next year and tying up vacation time. Will have to maybe put up a deposit on BCL (Bubba Cruise Line) out of BBCP (Buffaloe Bayou Cruise Port).

[libertybelle41]

I'm ready to book a cruise from the new Houston Terminal. Waiting on the announcement to award some cruise line my business. .

 

 

 

Meee tooo!!

[Guest carlogesualdo]

Karenh1127,

 

Sounds like a good idea but how did the other passengers feel? Does anyone know if you can pay an extra fee for early boarding?

...

Julie

 

Oh, don't give anyone ideas - just show up early and there's a good chance you'll get on board. No charge.

 

TexBear,

 

what do you mean by the cruise lines want to play it safe in Texas.

There was a time when there were 3 lines going out of Galveston

and I always wondered what happened. I assumed they weren't making the profit they wanted or felt they need.

 

Julie

 

I assumed TexBear means the cruise lines that sail from Texas call at the following ports only: Mexico (Cozumel, generally), Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Key West. There are several others easily accessible from Galveston, like Belize, Roatan (Honduras), Labadee (Haiti) that do not appear on anyone's itinerary.

[kwbrad]

 

 

 

I assumed TexBear means the cruise lines that sail from Texas call at the following ports only: Mexico (Cozumel, generally), Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Key West. There are several others easily accessible from Galveston, like Belize, Roatan (Honduras), Labadee (Haiti) that do not appear on anyone's itinerary.

 

Actually the Voyager (when here) does an itinerary that goes to Roatan and Costa Maya (once it reopens). It took over the alternating schedule from the Rhapsody when she left. We did the Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya, Progresso route and loved it. I would not hesitate to do it again.

[TexBear]

Oh, don't give anyone ideas - just show up early and there's a good chance you'll get on board. No charge.

 

 

 

I assumed TexBear means the cruise lines that sail from Texas call at the following ports only: Mexico (Cozumel, generally), Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Key West. There are several others easily accessible from Galveston, like Belize, Roatan (Honduras), Labadee (Haiti) that do not appear on anyone's itinerary.

 

Precisely. I meant that by offering only very limited itineraries, the cruise lines are playing it safe out of Galveston.

 

Thanks,

 

James