HAL in New Orleans or Galveston

[airlink diva]

The other cruiselines are adding ships to these two ports. RCCL is now about to add a ship to New Orleans and Princess and Disney is going into Galveston.

I've sailed out of New Orleans twice. The majority of the people on the ship didn't fly,but drove to the port. There were also alot of train cruisers (I did this on one cruise and was amazed how many people from Chicago,Memphis and along the route took the train. But since you can check three bags for free and no 3 oz carry on rule, there was alot of liquor!)

I would love for HAL to offer sailing from New Orleans, even if it was just for one or two months a year.

Any hope you think???

[Essiesmom]

No. EM

[Krazy Kruizers]

This has been discussed before.

HAL will not be sailing out of either of those ports.

[RuthC]

Any hope you think???

Never say "never". But I wouldn't hold off on making a booking while I was waiting for it to happen.

[IRL_Joanie]

If HAL ever goes out of Galveston or New Orleans then yes we would consider it greatly depending on the itinerary. Would be nice to drive down.

 

We can dream:D

 

Joanie

[Himself]

About 15 or 16 years ago the old Nieuw Amsterdam used to do Western Caribbean cruises out of New Orleans. I believe it was the 95-96 Season and the 96-97 Season. I would love to see a HAL ship going out of New Orleans.

[eh2zed]

HAL will sail out of Galveston or New Orleans as soon as it makes business sense to do so.

[Linda&Vern]

We wish HAL would return to Norfolk. Our first two cruises were r/t there. Temporary terminal ... but it worked. Then the city build a new terminal, and HAL left. We were sad. I won't fly any longer (health issues) ... it would be great to drive to Norfolk instead of FL, Boston, or NY.

[jkrislc]

Personally, I think those ports are already over saturated especially given the size of the RCI ships sailing from both ports and the size of the new Carnival ship from Texas. In addition, the itineraries are limited by the additional sailing distance.

[jbhcw]

We wish HAL would return to Norfolk. Our first two cruises were r/t there. Temporary terminal ... but it worked. Then the city build a new terminal, and HAL left. We were sad. I won't fly any longer (health issues) ... it would be great to drive to Norfolk instead of FL, Boston, or NY.

 

I had forgotten but our first Hal cruise was out of Norfolk!! We don't fly a lot anymore and it is a long trek to FLL:D

[happy cruzer]

Personally, I think those ports are already over saturated especially given the size of the RCI ships sailing from both ports and the size of the new Carnival ship from Texas. In addition, the itineraries are limited by the additional sailing distance.

 

I would tend to agree with you. However, I think air fare is the game changer for so many people. Many hate the hassle and COST of flying. I kinda like to fly however the extra hassles and mainly costs such as allowing extra days in front of a cruise and paying for a flight with insurance, luggage requirements, etc. makes me drive in many cases. So more cruisers will be looking to drive than in the past.

 

Cuba may open more iteneraries.

[DaveOKC]

Living in Oklahoma, I would love to see HAL doing cruises from both ports. I likely woul still fly, but having the option would be nice.

 

While flying is a hassle, I have been a frequent flyer for 35 years and it has always been a pain (for different reasons than now). WHat I like to do is add a couple of days to the front (and possibly end) of the cruise to explore the area, its kind of like adding ports to our cruise. Plus it makes for a more relaxing vacation.

 

DaveOKC

[Nasmas]

That would be my dream vacation. A few days in my favorite city, New Orleans, then a HAL cruise. I'd think I died and gone to heaven. We would still fly but the flight from Little Rock to NO is cheap and short. We could drive, but we figured out, it cost us more to park in NO than the flight costs. I would love to see HAL in New Orleans. Can't say about Galveston because I've never been there. But, we go to New Orleans every year or so and it keeps getting better. We love the Quarter.

[DeadeyeDick]

I would be thrilled if Holland America Sailed out of Galveston, I suspect so would a lot of others. Carnival may be parent company but it stinks! RCL is good but only sail out in winter, put a HAL ship in Galveston year round.

[Hlitner]

We do like the idea of more cruises leaving out of New Orleans since this is such a fun city for a pre or post cruise trip and the airport is pretty convenient. As to Galvaston,,, we think this is one of the worst ports in the USA because of its distance from the Houston airports. Although it is convenient for Texans it is a royal pain for anyone else.

 

Hank

[Bookfinder]

We would love to see HA sail from New Orleans or Galveston. We prefer to drive for several reasons but I do understand that some would not like Galveston due to distance from Houston airport. We found that with RCL that it was easy on and easy off in Galveston. It seems to be poplar and RCL moved a larger ship in several years ago because of the large number of bookings.

[Randyk47]

I talked to the HAL's regional sales rep in April and she said try as she might corporate has shown little interest in Galveston. The itineraries out of Galveston are limited to western Caribbean and Panama Canal and they don't feel there's enough business. Celebrity did 11/12 day partial Panama Canal cruises out Galveston 2004-2006 and while they filled the ships it apparently wasn't enough to keep them using the port.

[c-legs]

The itineraries out of Galveston are limited to western Caribbean and Panama Canal and they don't feel there's enough business. Celebrity did 11/12 day partial Panama Canal cruises out Galveston 2004-2006 and while they filled the ships it apparently wasn't enough to keep them using the port.

 

Translation: while ships were '' filled'' , it had to be at less than satisfactory yield....and those itineraries and their ship deployment (Galaxy) were discontinued.

I suggest this is the same mindset that got HAL out of there.

And I agree with previous posters who point out that Galveston is already over saturated with berths to fill as both RCCL and CCL are deploying larger ships there.

Another issue....weather issues will plague ships sailing from the NorthEnd of the Gulf...happens often that fog or high winds play havoc with punctuality.

Just sayin'

 

Cheers

[Randyk47]

Translation: while ships were '' filled'' , it had to be at less than satisfactory yield....and those itineraries and their ship deployment (Galaxy) were discontinued.

I suggest this is the same mindset that got HAL out of there.

And I agree with previous posters who point out that Galveston is already over saturated with berths to fill as both RCCL and CCL are deploying larger ships there.

Another issue....weather issues will plague ships sailing from the NorthEnd of the Gulf...happens often that fog or high winds play havoc with punctuality.

Just sayin'

 

Cheers

 

Certainly agree on the "filled" translation. Actually our one and only Celebrity cruise was on the old Galaxy out of Galveston. Yes the ship was full but at what cost/profit? We had a Royal Suite on the Galaxy and got a 26% discount from the original published fare. We sailed with a number of other CC'ers....there were 98 of us at the Meet and Mingle....and many of them got equally attractive offers and sale prices for a wide variety of cabins. Back then there were actually more ships, though not necessarily more capacity, sailing out of Galveston/Houston so more competition for basically the same western Caribbean itinerary. Other than that if I heard any consistent complaints about Galveston it was the distance from the airports in Houston and the lack of hotel rooms on the island. Whether true or not there was some perception that Galveston was too hard or at least harder to get to than certainly ports like Fort Lauderdale.

[DeadeyeDick]

We sailed outd of Houston and Galveston with the BIg Red Boat (TRANSVAL) which the company later scuttled off N.C., Norwegian and countless Carnival and independent ships ; 'Star of Texas" et al. Carnival is the parent company, they are not going to cut into 'Magic" and 'Triumph" profits by allowing HAL to sail there too, they can't stop RCL (Voyager). Sad because Galveston could stand some "class" other than Carnival. I see it as a slam to the people of TExas, NM, Okla, Ark, La etc.

[Randyk47]

I see it as a slam to the people of TExas, NM, Okla, Ark, La etc.

 

I don't take any cruise line's decision to sail or not sail out of Galveston as anything other than a business decision. While we think Galveston is great....it is basically the only port we can reasonably drive to for a cruise...I can understand the other aspects like airline connections, hotels, weather, port facilities, itinerary limitations, etc., that impact potential cruisers. I may not agree with them because I'd love more port options but lines have tried Galveston and have pulled out for whatever combination of reasons but I don't think the refinement, social status, or income are necessarily the driving factors.

[George C]

We never drive but would love more ships to leave from New Orleans or Galveston, since there closer to Dallas, also both nice places to spend a nite or 2 before or after the cruise. We have sailed from both.

[terrydtx]

I have sailed on RCL out of Galveston about 6 years ago and the problem there is the cruise port is very small and parking is already a problem with the huge mega ships of Carnival and RCL. Also on 7 day cruises the itineraries are limited to pretty much Mexico and the Grand Caymans because of distance. The other problem with Galveston is the air service to get there. Houston's two airports can take over an hour or more driving to get to the terminal and on weekends it is worse with the beach traffic to Galveston and gulf beaches.

 

New Orleans would also offer challenges with itineraries but would be closer for us in Alabama for driving. Carnival just pulled out of Mobile this month after being there for 5 years because of the costs of the fuel it takes to get from Mobile to Cozumel and Costa Maya. They had good passenger loads but had to keep cabin cost down to compete with New Orleans based ships.

 

We can drive to FLL in 12 hours or two days (750 miles), Tampa 8 hours or New Orleans in 7 hours, but I would most likely drive to Florida just for the more varied itineraries and ships offered by HAL.

[Randyk47]

I have sailed on RCL out of Galveston about 6 years ago and the problem there is the cruise port is very small and parking is already a problem with the huge mega ships of Carnival and RCL. Also on 7 day cruises the itineraries are limited to pretty much Mexico and the Grand Caymans because of distance. The other problem with Galveston is the air service to get there. Houston's two airports can take over an hour or more driving to get to the terminal and on weekends it is worse with the beach traffic to Galveston and gulf beaches.

 

New Orleans would also offer challenges with itineraries but would be closer for us in Alabama for driving. Carnival just pulled out of Mobile this month after being there for 5 years because of the costs of the fuel it takes to get from Mobile to Cozumel and Costa Maya. They had good passenger loads but had to keep cabin cost down to compete with New Orleans based ships.

 

We can drive to FLL in 12 hours or two days (750 miles), Tampa 8 hours or New Orleans in 7 hours, but I would most likely drive to Florida just for the more varied itineraries and ships offered by HAL.

 

A drive to Ft Lauderdale, if we were ever in our wildness dreams tempted to do it, would be something like 1,200 to 1,300 miles. That basically would add five to six days for the round trip drive to any vacation time even counting weekends and since Mrs. K is still fully employed that's a real issue. Add to that neither of us enjoys driving long distances. The idea of ending up a 10-14 day cruise where you've had a chance to relax and rejuvenate with a three day drive home just doesn't cut it. Galveston on the other hand was just four easy hours, though we did drive over the day before and enjoy a nice evening in Galveston before our cruise.

[happy cruzer]

I would not say never. There will be a very large Princess ship out of Galveston next winter. So Carnival does like those ports.