Galveston plans third cruise terminal, with Royal Caribbean as operator

[ssb]

Royal is competing in Galveston with Carnival and other future lines by jumping deeper into the market before the others do . 

[John&LaLa]

20 minutes ago, ssb said:

 

Florida has its own market. 

Galveston has its own market . 

Royal has done it research , and is just reacting to the marketplace with a commitment with  Galveston of 60 years  including options.   

 

Galveston With new more efficient ships and going to Bahamas , Cuba, eastern and southern Caribbean in the future , Galveston can cut into Florida marketplace . To what extent ??? 

 

 

 

 

 

Florida markets are growing just as fast.  I'm happy Galveston is getting a new terminal, I'm sure there is a market, but I seriously doubt they will exceed the passenger counts of the big three in my lifetime.  

 

PC is building their second 6,000 passenger terminal as we speak.  They also have commitments for 3 new LNG ships.

And keep in mind, PC gets large numbers of passengers with 3-4 ships doing the 3 and 4 day runs.  

 

Miami has new terminals going in for MSC and Virgin, and just opened one for Royal.

 

Pt Everglades is doing a major renovation for Celebrity Edge.

 

 

 

 

[ssb]

42 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Florida markets are growing just as fast.  I'm happy Galveston is getting a new terminal, I'm sure there is a market, but I seriously doubt they will exceed the passenger counts of the big three in my lifetime.  

 

PC is building their second 6,000 passenger terminal as we speak.  They also have commitments for 3 new LNG ships.

And keep in mind, PC gets large numbers of passengers with 3-4 ships doing the 3 and 4 day runs.  

 

Miami has new terminals going in for MSC and Virgin, and just opened one for Royal.

 

Pt Everglades is doing a major renovation for Celebrity Edge.

 

 

 

 

Galveston has not set out to complete with Florida . Florida has four ports and continuIng to make improvements. I would hope to think Florida will  stay ahead of tiny one port city Galveston. Galveston is only taking advantage of what is in their face . Finally the industry is taking notice too. Let’s not overthink this just yet by making it into a competition of two markets . We all and both love our cruising ! Long term guess , it will be though logically common destinations . 

Bahamas , Eastern, Southern , Western Caribbean , Panama , South America. 

Edited December 16, 2018 by ssb

[John&LaLa]

41 minutes ago, ssb said:

Galveston has not set out to complete with Florida . Florida has four ports and continuIng to make improvements. I would hope to think Florida will  stay ahead of tiny one port city Galveston. Galveston is only taking advantage of what is in their face . Finally the industry is taking notice too. Let’s not overthink this just yet by making it into a competition of two markets . We all and both love our cruising ! Long term guess , it will be though logically common destinations . 

Bahamas , Eastern, Southern , Western Caribbean , Panama , South America. 

 

I never made it out to be a competition.  I just gave my opinion to another poster that Galveston is a smaller departure port than Miami, Pt Canaveral, and Pt Everglades, and has no chance of becoming the third largest cruise port in the US.  I'm sure they will grow their market considerably, but it's to big a hurdle to overtake one of the big FL ports

[ssb]

8 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I never made it out to be a competition.  I just gave my opinion to another poster that Galveston is a smaller departure port than Miami, Pt Canaveral, and Pt Everglades, and has no chance of becoming the third largest cruise port in the US.  I'm sure they will grow their market considerably, but it's to big a hurdle to overtake one of the big FL ports

On observation about Florida ports is the competition between themselves. Which in the long run could be a factor in itself . No chance is like saying never . But who cares ? I only care when Florida folks knock little Galveston Island . Right now according to an expert I heard at a cruising symposium recently say , that less than 3% of potential cruising market is tapped. Let’s just all sit back , see what happens and enjoy the ride . 

Edited December 16, 2018 by ssb

[HBE4]

On 12/14/2018 at 3:31 PM, euphscott said:

 

I have done two cruises this year (one in June, one in December).  One was a Sunday departure, one a Thursday.  I did not encounter a 2 night minimum requirement in either case.  

 

Good to hear. Someone else stated that the 2 night min is only for selected weekends, when there are other events in town. Good to know.

[George C]

6 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

Good to hear. Someone else stated that the 2 night min is only for selected weekends, when there are other events in town. Good to know.

Most high end hotels in Galveston have two night requirements, which was not the case 4 or 5 years ago, have not be able to do Hilton or San Luis for one night last several years . 

[HBE4]

35 minutes ago, George C said:

Most high end hotels in Galveston have two night requirements, which was not the case 4 or 5 years ago, have not be able to do Hilton or San Luis for one night last several years . 

 

Ah, got it. I guess it make sense as they want to offer a true resort experience and will deter the "fly in late, crash for a few hours and leave early the next day" crowd.  Unfortunately that negatively affects someone like you.

 

Interesting, the Hilton offers (or used to) a 'park-n-cruise' package where you could leave your car there for the week for free or nominal fee while they shuttled you to the port.  Not sure if that had a 2 night minimum though.

[George C]

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

Ah, got it. I guess it make sense as they want to offer a true resort experience and will deter the "fly in late, crash for a few hours and leave early the next day" crowd.  Unfortunately that negatively affects someone like you.

 

Interesting, the Hilton offers (or used to) a 'park-n-cruise' package where you could leave your car there for the week for free or nominal fee while they shuttled you to the port.  Not sure if that had a 2 night minimum though.

It did not San Luis had same deal you parked in a remote lot and bus picked you up . Both hotels had live music also. 

[OSUZorba]

I think it is great they are added more to Galveston. Since I sailed out of there the first time, I haven't sailed out of anywhere else. What I don't get is for the times I look, Liberty is always the cheapest of the Caribbean options, which to me says that it can't get as high of a price premium as the FL cruises. So I am always surprised they are added more.

[ssb]

19 hours ago, OSUZorba said:

I think it is great they are added more to Galveston. Since I sailed out of there the first time, I haven't sailed out of anywhere else. What I don't get is for the times I look, Liberty is always the cheapest of the Caribbean options, which to me says that it can't get as high of a price premium as the FL cruises. So I am always surprised they are added more.

 

Market Research 

[OSUZorba]

1 minute ago, ssb said:

 

Market Research 

I assume they do their market research. It just surprises me they are adding capacity is a location that appears to generate lower yields. Of course I don't have all the data to know it is generating lower yields, and right now the capacity appears to be in-addition to FL capacity, not in spite of.

[ssb]

5 hours ago, OSUZorba said:

I assume they do their market research. It just surprises me they are adding capacity is a location that appears to generate lower yields. Of course I don't have all the data to know it is generating lower yields, and right now the capacity appears to be in-addition to FL capacity, not in spite of.

 

Time and action are the relative future factors of Galveston.

Everything is only relative to facts of today and the tomorrow plans of the major players!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The Port of Galveston is a present happening player in the future cruise US marketplace......with the aggressive new port management and experienced leaders, port master plan changes,  expansive Texas and midwest growth marketplace, two international Houston airports,  new ship technologies,  LNG fuel availability in Texas,  Carnival's current presence,  RCL's long term plans, Disney's current plans and others lines coming, Southeast Texas changes occurring ,  Galveston's proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Canal and South America and all US ports possibly becoming ports of call. 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by ssb

[dude_hdt]

I've heard in the past that Galveston does not get high ticket prices but gets volume, i.e. ships sail fairly full.  If the volume is true and seeing how cruise lines are pushing the onboard sails then volume will lead to more $ in the end.

 

As for RCCL investing their newer ships in Galveston, it's about time. Carnival has been placing their new ships there for a while so the market is definitely there.

 

I may be a little  bias too as I live only 30 minutes from Galveston 😉

[HBE4]

On 12/16/2018 at 5:45 PM, OSUZorba said:

I think it is great they are added more to Galveston. Since I sailed out of there the first time, I haven't sailed out of anywhere else. What I don't get is for the times I look, Liberty is always the cheapest of the Caribbean options, which to me says that it can't get as high of a price premium as the FL cruises. So I am always surprised they are added more.

 

It could be the ship as well. The newer, bigger Oasis & Quantum class ships will always command a higher price tag as well as any recently revitalized ships.

 

I recently did mock booking of the 3 Freedom-class ships for Nov 2019 cruise. Looking to pick my balcony, all 3 were within $150 (total for 2) of each other with Indy (out of FLL) coming in the lowest @ $2,050 and Liberty being the highest @ $2,200. Freedom (out of San Juan ) split the difference in the low 2,100 range. If I went with a Balcony GTY, then the price shifted to Liberty's favor $1,900 with the other 2 slightly higher but again, within the ballpark.

 

Of course, State-residency discounts could swing the price in favor of the drive-in population as well as the time of year, room category, etc, etc, etc. YMMV.

 

[HBE4]

 

Also, as Carnival is the main competition, RCI is trying to stay competitive, price-wise.

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

Also, as Carnival is the main competition, RCI is trying to stay competitive, price-wise.

 

Shouldn't they compete by offering a better product.  Hopefully Oasis will do that, but look out for price increases. 

[The Fun Researcher]

On 12/14/2018 at 12:36 PM, wolfganghowell said:

Ssshhh - let's just let the non Galveston lovers be.  Don't try to convince them.  That way, we can still book our hotels and get our rooms.  It's a major ordeal to find a GS on Galveston cruises.  And all the port complaints - do some geography research.  Only so many ports can be reached within a 7 day RT window.  There's a reason Galveston cruises have a reputation among passengers AND crew for being the friendliest sailings around - the majority are drive-in cruisers, mainly Tx, the Southwest and mid America.  Let's not ruin a good thing. 😉

 

I have to agree that the crew was fantastic, and the fellow passengers as well, on our recent January Liberty sailing.

 

Galveston is a PITA for those flying in relative to FLL or MIA based cruises.  What we did was rent a condo (Pointe West Resort) for three nights on the island before the cruise and turned it into a cruise/tour vacation.  Really enjoyed our time in Galveston.  Our only issue was the weather.  Coming from Michigan in late December I was really hoping for warm weather, but it was 60F the three days there and 49F and drizzling the day we boarded the ship.  It took a good day and a half sailing south to even remotely think about using the pool deck.

Still had a wonderful cruise though, but don' plan to sail out of Galveston again.

Dan

[HBE4]

26 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 Our only issue was the weather.  Coming from Michigan in late December I was really hoping for warm weather, but it was 60F the three days there and 49F and drizzling the day we boarded the ship.  It took a good day and a half sailing south to even remotely think about using the pool deck.
 

 

I had the same issue with my sailing on November. Left New York as it was enjoying some balmy Indian-summer like weather to the colder, blustery conditions in Galveston.  There is probably only 5 days a year where New York is warmer than south Texas and i was there for 3 of them.

 

Can't control the weather.

Edited December 18, 2018 by HBE4

[ssb]

On 12/6/2018 at 9:50 PM, Host Clarea said:

 

I don't think Galveston cares much.  My gut feel (not based on any real numbers) was that while the Florida ports actively try to attract the cruise business, Galveston sorta just tolerates it.

 

Since we all have respect for your opinions on cruise critic and as a moderator would you expand on Galveston toleration . 

[ktex1968]

On 12/5/2018 at 8:04 PM, matj2000 said:

The Liberty in Galveston has started to run its course.

 

Soon it will need to be replaced with something bigger & better..

 

Yes, we've been on it every year since she got here.  Taking the Oasis this year out of Fla, which is proving to be much more complicated and expensive.

[Galveston Cruiser]

On 12/6/2018 at 9:50 PM, Host Clarea said:

 

I don't think Galveston cares much.  My gut feel (not based on any real numbers) was that while the Florida ports actively try to attract the cruise business, Galveston sorta just tolerates it.

With over 7 million visitors annually.  We must be doing something right.

 

Really tired of people bashing Galveston without knowing anything about this historic city. A few hours or days on the island, does not make one knowledgeable of our infrastructure. Spouting misinformation does disservice to the City, residents and visitors who truly know and care for Galveston.

 

As for those that hate it is so far from the airport - we are an island!  Not all port cities are next to an airport.

Rental car companies are not governed by a City or port but economics.  51,000 residents cannot support this service and there are  logistics and costs to relocate vehicles.  Perhaps one should learn about these costs before making negative statements.  Companies worldwide have drop off charges as they must recover their relocation costs.

 

We have traveled and sailed all over the world.  Not all destinations are convenient.  

Some of our worst experiences have been in Florida, but we have no wish to bash the State or cities.  We chose to go because of the cruises and plan ahead.

 

Every destination has pluses and minuses; but to continue to make negative comments based on supposition and/or a few short trips to Galveston is wrong.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Galveston Cruiser

[ssb]

On 12/18/2018 at 12:47 PM, The Fun Researcher said:

 

I have to agree that the crew was fantastic, and the fellow passengers as well, on our recent January Liberty sailing.

 

Galveston is a PITA for those flying in relative to FLL or MIA based cruises.  What we did was rent a condo (Pointe West Resort) for three nights on the island before the cruise and turned it into a cruise/tour vacation.  Really enjoyed our time in Galveston.  Our only issue was the weather.  Coming from Michigan in late December I was really hoping for warm weather, but it was 60F the three days there and 49F and drizzling the day we boarded the ship.  It took a good day and a half sailing south to even remotely think about using the pool deck.

Still had a wonderful cruise though, but don' plan to sail out of Galveston again.

Dan

Galveston was in the 70’s yesterday Christmas Day . Sunshine  and very comfortable day . 

 

A front is coming in tonight which will speed across the southeastern US and other ports of the US . Guess the bad weather will only be in Galveston , even though the broad based Mother Nature weather system comes from the Northwest US and beyond , and will spread across lower southeast US. 

 

There are many rough weather  days in Florida from the same weather systems in Galveston. Guess last weeks rough seas and not going to  Coco Cay , and cold waters in Coco Cay , and the rough waters with changes in itineraries to Cuba and others out of Florida 

were any different from cooler weather in Galveston . 

 

Mother Nature is everywhere . 

Make plans 

Live with it and enjoy your cruise 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2018 by ssb

[Clarea]

51 minutes ago, Galveston Cruiser said:

... but to continue to make negative comments based on supposition and/or a few short trips to Galveston is wrong.

 

I don't believe there is anything inaccurate about the two night weekend stays required at some hotels on the island, nor the lack of one-way rental car competition on the island.  I would be happy if you would prove these facts (not suppositions) wrong.

 

Compared to any cruise port in Florida, these are negatives.

[ssb]

20 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I don't believe there is anything inaccurate about the two night weekend stays required at some hotels on the island, nor the lack of one-way rental car options on the island.  I would be happy if you would prove these facts (not suppositions) wrong.

 

Compared to any cruise port in Florida, these are negatives.

Galveston is in demand and accessible.

 

Negativity about  tolerance  and not caring comments are inexcusable by a moderator , who should be promoting cruising on Cruise Critic . Wherever !!!! 

 

Look at Galveston for its presentence today  and future .  ..RCL , Carnival , Disney , Princess are !!

Stop living Galveston from your past . And get better informed to help cruising in Galveston and everywhere, if for nothing else Cruise Critic . 

 

Galveston is a happening thing , whether you like it or not . 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2018 by ssb