Should Corpus Christi Become the Next Major Port?

[EnTnSA]

No one has mentioned the fact that it could be a great place for a competitor to Carnival to get a foothold in the Texas Market.

 

It doesn't have to be Carnival that starts up in Corpus…Maybe it is NCL?

[CoconutJD]

No one has mentioned the fact that it could be a great place for a competitor to Carnival to get a foothold in the Texas Market.

 

It doesn't have to be Carnival that starts up in Corpus…Maybe it is NCL?

I'm pretty sure NCL already sails (or is about to start) from Houston.

[JWGrayson]

.... Corpus is closer located to the ports of call, so Carnival could cut their fuel costs by travelling slower but still having a 6 or 7 day cruise.

Thanks,

Tate

 

I would tend to agree. A while back (4 years ago?) I sat in on a TA call where Carnival exec's talked about a home port right in Corpus Christi. The location was perfect for going further south. Of course, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since that time.

 

I've lived in Houston and Bay City, so I was curious about these statements. CC is a bit farther south than Galveston, but also farther west. Consequestly, CC is about 50 miles farther from the NE corner of the Yucatan Peninsular and over 125 miles farther from Key West, Bahamas, and the Eastern Carib.

 

The Houston's airports are a LOT farther from the port, but as others have said, it is a major hub making flight availability much better and competitive.

 

Carnival now has 3 ships in Galveston and I don't see them diluting the customer base by adding another ship in Texas.

 

IMHO

[jimbo5544]

I've lived in Houston and Bay City, so I was curious about these statements. CC is a bit farther south than Galveston, but also farther west. Consequestly, CC is about 50 miles farther from the NE corner of the Yucatan Peninsular and over 125 miles farther from Key West, Bahamas, and the Eastern Carib.

 

The Houston's airports are a LOT farther from the port, but as others have said, it is a major hub making flight availability much better and competitive.

 

Carnival now has 3 ships in Galveston and I don't see them diluting the customer base by adding another ship in Texas.

 

IMHO

 

 

You might be right. I guess the other way to look at is they could do all weekends as opposed to onesaturday, one Sunday and the other on other days. The other port they discussed on that conf call was playa del Carmen. The problem there was there would have to be made a deep water port.

 

 

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[talkorpi]

I don't think anyone is realizing that if the cruise and tourism Indus grows in CC, so will its airport. I still think it is a wonderful idea, and so do my friends, family, and TONS of locals in SA, Austin, and CC.

[loubetti]

This is spot on! While Texas has a large population it also already has cruises from Houston & Galveston which are both closer to a larger portion of the population than Corpus Christi. Carnival is FAR MORE LIKELY to increase capacity in Galveston or go to Houston than to go the opposite direction and add a ship in CC. Just doesnt make financial sense.

 

I agree with you 110%. This is like me asking that they should build a cruise port at Boca Raton, Florida, when we have one 40 min away south at Fort Lauderdale, and 60 min away in Miami. We also have one 40 minutes away north at West Palm Beach, but only one ship uses it, "Bahamas Celebration".

 

I'm sorry for those (above) who hate Florida, but the state is the home of the modern cruise industry due to its location. It is what it is. Texas is a HUGE state compared to Florida, and I might say one of the greatest states in the country to live in, and that comes from a somewhat newly transplanted Floridian from New Jersey.

 

We'd all love a cruise ship in our "back yard", and I used to have that too when I lived 30 minutes away from the piers in Manhattan. However, these ships are costly beasts to operate and maintain, while keeping the shareholders happy, and trying to fill them up every week or so.

[EZ4]

I don't think anyone is realizing that if the cruise and tourism Indus grows in CC, so will its airport. I still think it is a wonderful idea, and so do my friends, family, and TONS of locals in SA, Austin, and CC.

 

Don't count on an airport renaissance. After 8 years of Carnival sailing from Mobile, the airport sucks even worse than it did before.

[Disconnections]

I agree with you 110%. This is like me asking that they should build a cruise port at Boca Raton, Florida, when we have one 40 min away south at Fort Lauderdale, and 60 min away in Miami. We also have one 40 minutes away north at West Palm Beach, but only one ship uses it, "Bahamas Celebration".

 

I'm sorry for those (above) who hate Florida, but the state is the home of the modern cruise industry due to its location. It is what it is. Texas is a HUGE state compared to Florida, and I might say one of the greatest states in the country to live in, and that comes from a somewhat newly transplanted Floridian from New Jersey.

 

We'd all love a cruise ship in our "back yard", and I used to have that too when I lived 30 minutes away from the piers in Manhattan. However, these ships are costly beasts to operate and maintain, while keeping the shareholders happy, and trying to fill them up every week or so.

 

It takes you 40 minutes to get from Boca to Port Everglades?

[jwalk03]

After 9/11 when people stopped flying so much, it made tons of sense for cruise ships like Carnival to start sailing from more ports so that they were closer to more people and could meet the demand for people who wanted vacations without flying.

 

Over time since them more and more people have returned to flying and as such the demand for ports that people drive to instead of fly has been dropping. This is why more and more ships are completely leaving (or reducing their presence) in the more niche ports (Norfolk, Mobile, Tampa, San Diego, etc.)

 

CC just makes no sense. Galveston already attracts so MANY drive to port customers from all over the area, I just don't see how CC opens the cruise line up to new customers and new revenue. I would guess that somewhere north of 80% of all passengers that sail from Galveston live in Texas. Florida is a whole diff ball game. The major ports there attract customers from all over the country (and the world really.)

[dadroy]

Sorry, but if cruise lines cannot make it in Los Angeles, Corpus Cristi is not going to make it. Your numbers from Texas, do not compare to 13 million in Los Angeles and probably close to 18 million if you consider the area.

 

Yes, Carnival sails two ships out of LA, but look at the prices and the fact half of the year they do not do 7 day sailings.

 

Don't know enough about your airport, but could they realistically handle 1,500 passengers on a Sunday to sail on a ship? You might think most passengers would be from a couple hours of CC, but my guess is the majority of passengers would be flying in.

[Tapi]

I don't think anyone is realizing that if the cruise and tourism Indus grows in CC, so will its airport. I still think it is a wonderful idea, and so do my friends, family, and TONS of locals in SA, Austin, and CC.

 

 

I respectfully recommend that you read about cities like Mobile. They also have a small regional airport. It NEVER grew. Also, the tourism boom that they expected NEVER materialized. Most cruisers would drive straight to the port on the day of embarkation, and drive home as soon as the cruise was over. Hotels, restaurants, and shops benefited minimally from having a Carnival ship there.

 

Mobile was the closest port of embarkation to the Atlanta metro area which has a population of almost 6 MILLION, as well as to other medium cities in Alabama like Birmingham and Montgomery, with a combined population of 1.5 million. The closest major port served by multiple cruise lines was Port Canaveral, 7 hours away so it made Mobile, 4.5 hours away, the logical choice. Yet, the numbers to support a cruise ship from Mobile just weren't there. Corpus' closest cities, Austin and San Antonio, have a combined population of 2 million, and majority of them are already driving to Houston or Galveston which aren't that much farther away.

 

It takes 2 hrs 50 minutes to drive from San Antonio to Houston and 2 hours and 5 minutes to drive from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. It seems I'll advised to build a port in Corpus that would marginally benefit some. I don't know about you, but I'll drive the extra 45 minutes to sail on a brand new, larger Carnival ship, or to have my pick between Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Princess, before I hop on an old, small Fantasy class ship.

 

As mentioned before, I understand wanting to have a cruise ship right in your backyard, and how in your eyes it makes absolute sense. But reality is much, MUCH different and the numbers just aren't there. I can assure you that if Corpus pressed on with a cruise ship terminal, they will find themselves with a vacant building, a huge mortgage to pay, and a debt that will eventually find its way to the residents of the city. Not very fair just to pursue a dream that has a very slim chance of becoming a reality.

 

 

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Edited June 18, 2014 by Tapi

[angiem0217]

I wish they would bring back a cruise line to mobile! I loved cruising from there.

 

 

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[Manny13840]

It will be a great idea to put a cruise in Corpus Christi, I live just 1 hour and 30 minutes away from Corpus in Laredo Texas... I don't think it will hurt Galveston in any kind of way, but maybe it can help them too look at Florida they have like 3 cities who are home of cruise ships.. South Texas is so populated like Laredo, and all Rio Grande Valley from Roma Texas to Brownsville talking about millions of people who will get more of a chance to cruise instead driving a 6 hour drive to Galveston... I actually have asked a CD on there Q&A Session one time about why hasn't Carnival invested in Corpus Christi as a Cruise Port he couldn't answer it hahaha.. But Corpus does deserve a Cruise port if it isn't Carnival maybe RCCL or Norwegian should take a look at the city.. Corpus has been trying to get a Cruise Line down here but it hasn't worked lately.. One thing that will work is putting the Triumph in Corpus and keeping Carnival Freedom and Magic, Disney Magic, and RCCL Navigator and Liberty of the Seas in Galveston..

[Tapi]

but maybe it can help them too look at Florida they have like 3 cities who are home of cruise ships.

 

 

You actually have 5 ports of embarkation in Florida. But here's the huge difference between any of them and Corpus Christi. You can actually cruise to places from Florida that you can't get to from Corpus on a 7 night cruise.

 

Because of the better itineraries, and many more options, world renowned tourist attractions in Orlando, Miami and Tampa, and larger, newer ships, people from all over the country (and the world) are willing to fly to Florida for a vacation. Because of that, all of these cities are well served by large airports with hundreds of daily flights.

 

Corpus Christi lacks the world famous attractions that make Florida so popular, it lacks the location to launch any itinerary that isn't already offered, it lacks an airport with the flight network to attract fly-in passengers, and if it ever got a ship, it would have a hard time competing with ships already sailing from Galveston/Houston, just a few hours north.

 

 

 

 

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Edited June 18, 2014 by Tapi

[EZ4]

I wish they would bring back a cruise line to mobile! I loved cruising from there.

 

 

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Don't count on it. ALDOT has plans for a new I-10 bridge over the river that will bypass the tunnels and will be the last nail in the cruising coffin. Whoever thought that 10 lanes of interstate merging down to 4 to go through the tunnels was a good idea, should walk the plank. As a local, I would much rather have the new bridge than a cruise ship. Mobile really doesn't need the cruise industry anymore, although they still owe tens of millions on the cruise terminal mortgage. If they can just figure out a way to use the terminal to make it pay it's own way, all will be good. Meanwhile, the parking lot that is I-10 continues to get worse with every passing year.

[flounder315]

It will be a great idea to put a cruise in Corpus Christi, I live just 1 hour and 30 minutes away from Corpus in Laredo Texas... I don't think it will hurt Galveston in any kind of way, but maybe it can help them too look at Florida they have like 3 cities who are home of cruise ships.. South Texas is so populated like Laredo, and all Rio Grande Valley from Roma Texas to Brownsville talking about millions of people who will get more of a chance to cruise instead driving a 6 hour drive to Galveston... I actually have asked a CD on there Q&A Session one time about why hasn't Carnival invested in Corpus Christi as a Cruise Port he couldn't answer it hahaha.. But Corpus does deserve a Cruise port if it isn't Carnival maybe RCCL or Norwegian should take a look at the city.. Corpus has been trying to get a Cruise Line down here but it hasn't worked lately.. One thing that will work is putting the Triumph in Corpus and keeping Carnival Freedom and Magic, Disney Magic, and RCCL Navigator and Liberty of the Seas in Galveston..[/quote]

 

Get your facts together...

 

Carnival Triumph and Magic & Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas are the only ships sailing out of Galveston

 

Norwegian Jewel will start sailing out of Houston Bayport Oct 10th 2014

 

Emerald Princess will start sailing out of Houston Bayport Nov 16th 2014

 

Carnival Freedom starts sailing out of Galveston Feb 15th 2015

 

Disney no longer sails out of Galveston, they left in March 2014

[jwalk03]

It will be a great idea to put a cruise in Corpus Christi, I live just 1 hour and 30 minutes away from Corpus in Laredo Texas... I don't think it will hurt Galveston in any kind of way, but maybe it can help them too look at Florida they have like 3 cities who are home of cruise ships.. South Texas is so populated like Laredo, and all Rio Grande Valley from Roma Texas to Brownsville talking about millions of people who will get more of a chance to cruise instead driving a 6 hour drive to Galveston... I actually have asked a CD on there Q&A Session one time about why hasn't Carnival invested in Corpus Christi as a Cruise Port he couldn't answer it hahaha.. But Corpus does deserve a Cruise port if it isn't Carnival maybe RCCL or Norwegian should take a look at the city.. Corpus has been trying to get a Cruise Line down here but it hasn't worked lately.. One thing that will work is putting the Triumph in Corpus and keeping Carnival Freedom and Magic, Disney Magic, and RCCL Navigator and Liberty of the Seas in Galveston..[/quote]

 

Get your facts together...

 

Carnival Triumph and Magic & Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas are the only ships sailing out of Galveston

 

Norwegian Jewel will start sailing out of Houston Bayport Oct 10th 2014

 

Emerald Princess will start sailing out of Houston Bayport Nov 16th 2014

 

Carnival Freedom starts sailing out of Galveston Feb 15th 2015

 

Disney no longer sails out of Galveston, they left in March 2014

 

Disney is actually returning to Galveston in 2015 for about 2 months worth of sailings in Nov and Dec.

[jimbo5544]

Sorry, but if cruise lines cannot make it in Los Angeles, Corpus Cristi is not going to make it. Your numbers from Texas, do not compare to 13 million in Los Angeles and probably close to 18 million if you consider the area.

 

Yes, Carnival sails two ships out of LA, but look at the prices and the fact half of the year they do not do 7 day sailings.

 

Don't know enough about your airport, but could they realistically handle 1,500 passengers on a Sunday to sail on a ship? You might think most passengers would be from a couple hours of CC, but my guess is the majority of passengers would be flying in.

 

I don't think that you can make that analogy. Carnival could not fill the Splendor in LA without severely discounting the rates (we will see how the do with the Miracle). It's not simply a "how many people" you have, it is who will cruise. I strongly believe that Texas can support three ships, whereas the LA area (no matter how many people there are) can support two ships - and one of those ws a small 3,4,5 day cruise.

[jimbo5544]

Since that time, Carnival has pulled out of 4 homeports and then returned to 2 of them, but they have added 0 new homeports.

 

True, but what does that mean?

[EZ4]

True, but what does that mean?

 

That a new homeport in CC is unlikely? Never confuse a speculative thread with facts? IDK. LOL.

[marimojo]

Very interesting discussion and I enjoyed reading this thread. I wanted to add my two cents. We live in Dallas and the drive to Galveston is close to 5 hours. CC is much longer. I agree with Tapi, I would not go to CC to get on an older, smaller ship. Carnival invested a lot of money in Galveston - I honestly don't see them adding another Texas port. Sorry, just my opinion.

[jimbo5544]

Very interesting discussion and I enjoyed reading this thread. I wanted to add my two cents. We live in Dallas and the drive to Galveston is close to 5 hours. CC is much longer. I agree with Tapi, I would not go to CC to get on an older, smaller ship. Carnival invested a lot of money in Galveston - I honestly don't see them adding another Texas port. Sorry, just my opinion.

 

Nothing to be sorry about. It is all conjecture at any rate. All opinions are valid.

[CoconutJD]

I don't think that you can make that analogy. Carnival could not fill the Splendor in LA without severely discounting the rates (we will see how the do with the Miracle). It's not simply a "how many people" you have, it is who will cruise. I strongly believe that Texas can support three ships, whereas the LA area (no matter how many people there are) can support two ships - and one of those ws a small 3,4,5 day cruise.

Part of the problem (as I see it) is that there's no variety from L.A. There's pretty much just one itinerary that ships can do there. Whereas from Galveston, there's a lot of Caribbean to see, from Key West to the Bahamas, to Belize, Jamaica, etc.

[jimbo5544]

Part of the problem (as I see it) is that there's no variety from L.A. There's pretty much just one itinerary that ships can do there. Whereas from Galveston, there's a lot of Caribbean to see, from Key West to the Bahamas, to Belize, Jamaica, etc.

 

That certainly is a factor. I hope they continue to stretch out itin's as they are doing with a couple on the Triumph now.

[jimbo5544]

That a new homeport in CC is unlikely? Never confuse a speculative thread with facts? IDK. LOL.

 

Sometimes I cannot tell the diffrence.....or even sure if there is a difference.:eek::D