Galveston?

[Liljo22]

I see the Prima will be pulling into Galveston and then going to Miami.  Has NCL mentioned anything about starting cruises out of Texas?  It would be great to have a ship here.  I am ok with going to NO but that drive is not fun after a week of cruising.  

[valleyvillage]

I love Galveston! How about a pre and post cruise stay at the wonderful Tremont House? Yes, please!

[All-ready2cruise]

7 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

I see the Prima will be pulling into Galveston and then going to Miami.  Has NCL mentioned anything about starting cruises out of Texas?  It would be great to have a ship here.  I am ok with going to NO but that drive is not fun after a week of cruising.  

So far, there's only the 1 cruise from Galveston, however, there might be a few more in the future.  NCL did have the Jade homeported in Galveston a few years but it didn't last long. 

[Liljo22]

9 minutes ago, All-ready2cruise said:

So far, there's only the 1 cruise from Galveston, however, there might be a few more in the future.  NCL did have the Jade homeported in Galveston a few years but it didn't last long. 

Yes I remember the Jade was here when I first moved to Texas.  It was actually out of the Port of Houston.  

[All-ready2cruise]

3 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

Yes I remember the Jade was here when I first moved to Texas.  It was actually out of the Port of Houston.  

Ah, yes.  So, is it Carnival that cruises out of Galveston then?

[Liljo22]

2 minutes ago, All-ready2cruise said:

Ah, yes.  So, is it Carnival that cruises out of Galveston then?

Carnival and RCCL are the main ones.  We were suppose to get the Oasis of the Seas this year but Covid delayed building the new terminal to dock it.  Disney puts the Wonder here from time to time during the winter.  

Edited May 12, 2021 by Liljo22

[roger001]

8 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

Yes I remember the Jade was here when I first moved to Texas.  It was actually out of the Port of Houston.  

I cruised on the Jade once out of there.  I do remember the area around the port did not have much development.  We stayed at the only hotel near there it seems.  

[roger001]

1 minute ago, roger001 said:

I cruised on the Jade once out of there.  I do remember the area around the port did not have much development.  We stayed at the only hotel near there it seems.  

Where is the port located?

[Liljo22]

Just now, roger001 said:

I cruised on the Jade once out of there.  I do remember the area around the port did not have much development.  We stayed at the only hotel near there it seems.  

The Port of Houston is a dump and is mostly oil refineries.  The terminal was an expensive experiment for the City that they demolished a few years ago.   

[MichiganBound]

43 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

The Port of Houston is a dump and is mostly oil refineries.  The terminal was an expensive experiment for the City that they demolished a few years ago.   

Yes, NCL and Princess both operated out of The Port of Houston for a period of time.  Both lines had plenty of operational issues using Houston as their home port.  The Port of Houston is a very busy cargo port and it seems cargo ships were frequently given priority access into/out of the shipping channel such that the cruise ships were sometimes delayed by many hours waiting in the queue.  Add to that, your comment about the port basically being a dump (as many cargo ports are).  The visual experience of the sail-away from Houston was pretty unappealing.  

 

Coincidentally, I was aboard the final Jade cruise out of The Port of Houston destined first to Miami and then TA to Barcelona.  We left Houston just as a tropical storm was moving in.  The first 12 hours of the cruise were quite rough. 

Edited May 12, 2021 by MichiganBound
grammar

[bgTexasguy]

The Port of Houston had a beautiful terminal that was utilized by  Princess and the NCL JEWEL (not , Jade) for two years, to the Western Caribbean.  Those cruises took place in 2014 and 2015.

During that time, both Princess and NCL terminated their contracts because of the many (and sometimes lengthy) fog delays that are common in the ship channel.  The problems were compounded by the fact that Container Ships have priority!

 

Previously to the 2014 - 2015 sailings, NCL did have the Dream cruising "Texaribbean Cruises" out of the older port (further up the ships channel).

[bgTexasguy]

3 minutes ago, bgTexasguy said:

The Port of Houston had a beautiful terminal that was utilized by  Princess and the NCL JEWEL (not , Jade) for two years, to the Western Caribbean.  Those cruises took place in 2014 and 2015.

During that time, both Princess and NCL terminated their contracts because of the many (and sometimes lengthy) fog delays that are common in the ship channel.  The problems were compounded by the fact that Container Ships have priority!

 

Previously to the 2014 - 2015 sailings, NCL did have the Dream cruising "Texaribbean Cruises" out of the older port (further up the ships channel).

Oops, I was mistaken!!!  The Jewel did the Fall 2014 to Spring 2015.  Then, the Jade did the 2015-2016 cruises.

[bgTexasguy]

It does not seem that the cruise terminal was torn down.

However, it was leased to Auto Warehousing later in 2016.

Google: 12855 Cruise St, El Lago, TX 77586  ...I used satellite view.

 

 

[jaapie]

28 minutes ago, MichiganBound said:

Coincidentally, I was aboard the final Jade cruise out of The Port of Houston destined first to Miami and then TA to Barcelona.  We left Houston just as a tropical storm was moving in.  The first 12 hours of the cruise were quite rough. 

I was also on that final cruise the Jade made from Houston. The ship was only two thirds full as NCL had great difficulty selling cruises from the Port of Houston. The cruise MichiganBound mentions was 17 nights, I met someone on the cruise who had booked last minute and only paid $399 for her cabin (she was a single) - under $25 a day before grats, what a bargain. 

[Liljo22]

29 minutes ago, bgTexasguy said:

It does not seem that the cruise terminal was torn down.

However, it was leased to Auto Warehousing later in 2016.

Google: 12855 Cruise St, El Lago, TX 77586  ...I used satellite view.

 

 

You are correct.  I looked back at the news stories and they only demolished the gangways.  

[MichiganBound]

27 minutes ago, jaapie said:

I was also on that final cruise the Jade made from Houston. The ship was only two thirds full as NCL had great difficulty selling cruises from the Port of Houston. The cruise MichiganBound mentions was 17 nights, I met someone on the cruise who had booked last minute and only paid $399 for her cabin (she was a single) - under $25 a day before grats, what a bargain. 

Oh the memories.  That was my favorite cruise so far.  And you are right, I remember it being quite cheap.  I booked it (and its preceding 7 day Mexico/Central American cruise) relatively last minute...maybe 3-4 weeks before the first cruise.  I had been monitoring the prices for about a month before I finally booked it.  Each time I went in to check, it was cheaper until I finally pulled the trigger.

[lizord]

We would love any NCL Ship homeported in Galveston, though I would prefer a Jewel class or smaller. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We saile from LAs Angeles to Houston on the jewel, a 16 day Panama Canal trip, which brought the Jewel into Houston.  Great cruise and that port was beautiful.  Well laid out, good parking, etc.   but it was a long way from the airports and transfers were expensive.  Plus they had a three port itinerary, whereas NO offered a four port.  I feel sorry for all the business that sprung up based on cruise business.  We stayed in a brand new Holiday Inn and there were several other hotels and restaurants that were built.   And then it went poof.   NCL had a three year contract and terminated after two years. I think Princess fulfilled their three years but didn’t renew.   The ship channel and fog were ongoing problems.  
 

but Galveston is to build a new pier, I believe it is RCCLs property, and maybe that will allow for NCL to return.   Before COVID, I had read that Disney still did occasional cruises from there too.  Disney was very popular and I missed hearing them blow that wonderful horn.

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by MagnoliaBlossom

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

We saile from LAs Angeles to Houston on the jewel, a 16 day Panama Canal trip, which brought the Jewel into Houston.  Great cruise and that port was beautiful.  Well laid out, good parking, etc.   but it was a long way from the airports and transfers were expensive.  Plus they had a three port itinerary, whereas NO offered a four port.  I feel sorry for all the business that sprung up based on cruise business.  We stayed in a brand new Holiday Inn and there were several other hotels and restaurants that were built.   And then it went poof.   NCL had a three year contract and terminated after two years. I think Princess fulfilled their three years but didn’t renew.   The ship channel and fog were ongoing problems.  
 

but Galveston is to build a new pier, I believe it is RCCLs property, and maybe that will allow for NCL to return.   Before COVID, I had read that Disney still did occasional cruises from there too.  Disney was very popular and I missed hearing them blow that wonderful horn.

 

 

Yes.  RCCL is building a new $100 million terminal that will allow the Allure to sail from here in 2022 hopefully.  Disney still sails the Wonder out of here Nov-Jan but your looking at $6k-$10k for a family of 4 in a balcony room.  

[JeanieTheMom]

If I remember correctly, the reason cruises went out of the Houston port for a time was that a hurricane wiped out the port area in Galveston. 

 

I read yesterday, but I can't find it now to post a link, that there "may be negotiations" about having Prima sail out of Galveston after the 2023 season. I would like that!

[jaapie]

32 minutes ago, JeanieTheMom said:

If I remember correctly, the reason cruises went out of the Houston port for a time was that a hurricane wiped out the port area in Galveston. 

 

I read yesterday, but I can't find it now to post a link, that there "may be negotiations" about having Prima sail out of Galveston after the 2023 season. I would like that!

Carnival and RCCL did cruise out of the Houston Bayport terminal for a while after hurricane damage in Galveston, but then moved back to Galveston after repairs were done. After the Houston Bayport terminal sat idle for ages, a contract was finally signed with Princess and NCL but was not popular with cruisers so no longer operates as a cruise terminal.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

NCL has a 11 night cruise to the ABCs on 10/31/22.   I talked to my PCC today about it.  Only problem is it disembarks in MIA so I need work out the logistics.   Hopefully it will be a good experience for NCL and we will see them return to the “Texaribean”

[Sweetnspicy]

3 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

NCL has a 11 night cruise to the ABCs on 10/31/22.   I talked to my PCC today about it.  Only problem is it disembarks in MIA so I need work out the logistics.   Hopefully it will be a good experience for NCL and we will see them return to the “Texaribean”

I just put a deposit down for that exact cruise. 

[eileeshb]

22 hours ago, lizord said:

We would love any NCL Ship homeported in Galveston, though I would prefer a Jewel class or smaller. 

When the leonardo project (now prima) was first announced it was implied that the new class of ships would take over some of the routes currently served by the jewel class and that the jewel class would then be used at new home ports and smaller ports of call. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I, too, am a fan of the Jewel class ships and have bent the ear of everyone at NCL who would listen that bigger is not better.   As much as I have usually enjoyed the Get and Break, there is no comparison to the service I’ve received on the smaller ships.  When Leo was announced it was pitched as the great compromise.   I must admit, that after reading the article on NCL about pools, restaurants, etc, that I’m looking forward to sailing her.