Sailings from Galveston or Houston?

[BlackJack2]

Any chance that Princess will do any sailings out of Galveston or Houston in the future? 

[VibeGuy]

They had soooo many issues with fog delays last time that I think they’ve been soured on the experience. Doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance, but I don’t see it as a priority for them.  

[skynight]

Not any time soon.

[paul929207]

Princess got rid of several ships last year. I don't think they have any free to sail from Houston or Galveston

[Babr]

Bayport Terminal (Houston) was converted to a container facility years ago. Apparently that idea of “build it, they will come” only applies to baseball fields in movies, not cruise ship terminals in Houston.

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, Babr said:

Bayport Terminal (Houston) was converted to a container facility years ago. Apparently that idea of “build it, they will come” only applies to baseball fields in movies, not cruise ship terminals in Houston.

It's a shame, too. We sailed from there twice (maybe 3 times). Really enjoyed it.

[candy4040]

We sailed many years ago with NCL out of the Port of Houston.  Coming home fog was so bad we didn't get into port until after 12 noon and we missed our flight and had to spend the night.  NCL covered the hotel and airline did not charge any extra for leaving on the next day.

[CineGraphic]

Texas liquor laws make the whole experience unpleasant for many.

[bjkTX]

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

It's a shame, too. We sailed from there twice (maybe 3 times). Really enjoyed it.

We agree - the times we cruised from there it was the smoothest and easiest we have ever experienced.  Then we got on the ship... 🙂

 

[sirclean]

I agree!  When I first started cruising, one of the reasons I was building loyalty on Princess was that they had sailings out of Galveston, but as soon as I got interested in sailing from there, the ship was moved and never came back!

 

I sailed on a Disney ship in January, and given the curtailment of some Princess Perks for Elite members, It looks like Royal Caribbean may well be a competitive alternative, especially from Galveston!

[californiagirl]

We sailed out of Galveston on the Grand in February 2005 and out of Houston on Caribbean Princess in January 2016.    Both times the weather was cold on sail away.  We much prefer to sail out of warm ports in the winter.  Out of Houston we didn’t board until 4:00 because the prior sailing was delayed due to fog.  They didn’t get into port until 1:00 pm.  Lots of missed flights.  

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, BlackJack2 said:

Any chance that Princess will do any sailings out of Galveston or Houston in the future? 

Why would anyone here have a clue about that?

[caribill]

7 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

I would love it if Princess sailed from Galveston.  Galveston is a major cruise port with plenty of ships servicing it.  I don't see why Princess can't get onboard.  Though I do understand from time to time that there can be some serious delays in returning to port.

 

For several years Princess did sail from Galveston. Problem was that CCL and RCI (and sometimes Disney) also sailed from Galveston. As you point out, "plenty of ships."

 

When sailing from Galveston for 7 days or less, the possible itineraries are all basically the same picking up to three ports from Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize City, Roatan, and Progreso.

 

With five or more ships all doing basically the same cruise, there was great price competition and not always profitable for Princess to compete.

 

Princess then was bribed to sail from Houston (Bayport) for a couple of years. By bribe I mean they were paid to home port there, did not have to pay local port fees and were given a share of parking revenues. After one year NCL was also bribed to home port there.

 

When the port contracts for both NCL and Princess ended at Bayport, both lines left the area.

 

As someone posted above, the Bayport terminal no longer can function as a cruise terminal anymore.

 

We loved sailing from Bayport as it is only about 8 miles from our house.

[Reina del Mar]

Loved sailing from both Galveston and Bayport.

We did Royal Caribbean a few times from Galveston and Princess from Bayport.

 

Would definitely consider again if Princess could use either of the ports. 

 

[Turk1]

The Port of Galveston has plans currently to expand their Cruise terminals to allow for more cruise ships. No sure of projected time frame on expansion.

[CC Rider 69]

RCL will have their own terminal (#3) in November 2022. That will free up #1 & #2 for CCL, DIsney, and whomever else.

Edited February 7, 2022 by CC Rider 69
wrong date on ori text

[BlackJack2]

Just saw this article in the Houston paper - Princess Cruises returning to Galveston in December 2022. 

GALVESTON, Texas – Princess Cruises is returning to Galveston for homeport cruising after six years away, the cruise line announced Tuesday.

Ruby Princess will sail from December 2022 to April 2023, on a series of cruises from Galveston ranging from five to 11 days, calling mainly to destinations in the Western Caribbean, the cruise line said. The ship will also sail through the Panama Canal on two 16-day, ocean-to-ocean transits between Galveston and San Francisco. Cruises will be on sale April 7, 2022.

“Returning a ship to…Galveston makes a Princess cruise easily accessible to millions of Texans,” John Padgett, Princess Cruises president, is quoted as saying in the news release.

[Level six]

The FF cruise person on Majestic also said the Ruby was going back to Galveston at the captains party. 

[ocean sounds]

I’m interested.  Hope to see the pricing and itineraries before April 7.