Cruising from Charleston SC, No longer after 2024

[Vacationdreamer<><]

This is sad to me!  We just moved to SC last summer and were hoping to enjoy cruising out of our home state once more normalcy returned.  Hope we can do so at least in 2023!  

[Guest BasicSailor]

On 5/25/2022 at 11:56 AM, BasicSailor said:

 

BasicSailor you cannot copy and paste  copyrighted material onto Cruise Critic but you can link articles as the post below has done. I did not want this important information to disappear by deleting your post so took liberty of editing.  Bummed to see this as we are in NC and Charleston is so convenient but felt it coming for a while.

 

 

On 5/25/2022 at 3:25 PM, BasicSailor said:

Did not copy paste anything, it was posted under my own words.

But I should reworded it, if I could have edited it.

Big Boat Leaves Charleston Port in 2024.  Find another ride, Ships OVER !  

[Tapi]

The ship could be moving to Mobile once it’s done in Charleston. Currently, the Ecstasy is scheduled to sail from Mobile until March 2024 with no further schedules posted beyond that. 

[mz-s]

4 hours ago, Tapi said:

The ship could be moving to Mobile once it’s done in Charleston. Currently, the Ecstasy is scheduled to sail from Mobile until March 2024 with no further schedules posted beyond that. 

 

Carnival has announced the Spirit will be homeported in Mobile after the Ecstasy leaves the fleet. They could certainly change their mind and switch to the Sunshine if they wanted, but the Sunshine will be in Charleston until I presume December 2024.

 

The Ecstasy is leaving the fleet in October 2022, not March 2024.

[jsglow]

14 hours ago, stobe1 said:

 

Carnival routinely has calls to the ABC islands in the deep southern Caribbean. They are non-Journey 8 day cruises. I have done two of them since the restart last summer, both on the Horizon.

My friend, you conveniently excluded the Leewards/Windwards from your comments. We're all aware that they regularly go to the ABCs. Two completely different places.

[Joebucks]

On 5/25/2022 at 4:48 PM, ScottsSweetie said:

Perhaps. But the "old money" establishment in Charleston was never happy with the cruising industry being there. Many establishments downtown had fliers on their windows stating such. And since I'm such an empathetic person I made them happy by not entering their establishment. My "new money" talks, too.

 

Similar to Key West, and well any town for that matter. Those with money (and some without) absolutely loathe the chaos and riff raff cruises can bring. However, government tends to be more favorable of cruising from the economic impacts. A lot can change in 2 years. 

 

On 5/25/2022 at 6:50 PM, Itried4498 said:

 

IMO, San Juan is a legacy port; into the 2000s, Carnival would base multiple ships at San Juan seasonally (for reference, Port Canaveral only had one ship -- the Fantasy).  Miami, Orlando, Houston, etc. have direct air service to most every medium and large community in the country, whereas San Juan lacks service to many large communities.  The hassle of getting there, the cost (generally much more expensive to fly there then Miami or Orlando) and the growing number of 6/7/8-day itineraries that reach Southern Caribbean ports previously accessible only by San Juan hurt the chances of future cruise service there.

 

I will agree with you on the flight there. Especially with the times we are living in, many people aren't going to gravitate towards that flight. Florida would be much easier.

 

However, no Florida or any other nearby state departure can offer the itinerary that San Juan can for a 7 day.

[Indytraveler83]

I really can't see Carnival "Sunshining" the Spirit class.  The most attractive thing about that class to Carnival, with the Fantasy class mostly cut up, is that they meet certain size requirements to go under various bridges and into places that other ships cannot go.  If you add much to them, it defeats that purpose.  

 

Various (totally non scientific) reports seem to suggest the least popular ships in the fleet are the Sunshine, Sunrise and Conquest, with both of the "Sun" ships being older than the Spirit class.  If Carnival is going to start cutting up more ships, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go after the Fantasy Class is done.

 

[SC2020]

53 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

I really can't see Carnival "Sunshining" the Spirit class.  The most attractive thing about that class to Carnival, with the Fantasy class mostly cut up, is that they meet certain size requirements to go under various bridges and into places that other ships cannot go.  If you add much to them, it defeats that purpose.  

 

Various (totally non scientific) reports seem to suggest the least popular ships in the fleet are the Sunshine, Sunrise and Conquest, with both of the "Sun" ships being older than the Spirit class.  If Carnival is going to start cutting up more ships, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go after the Fantasy Class is done.

 

I think eventually Jacksonville will get a Spirit class once the Fantasy class is dead and gone, which will be sooner than later. 

[stobe1]

3 hours ago, jsglow said:

My friend, you conveniently excluded the Leewards/Windwards from your comments. We're all aware that they regularly go to the ABCs. Two completely different places.

 

I always assumed that the ABC islands were part of the Leewards. My mistake. 

[mz-s]

2 hours ago, Indytraveler83 said:

I really can't see Carnival "Sunshining" the Spirit class.  The most attractive thing about that class to Carnival, with the Fantasy class mostly cut up, is that they meet certain size requirements to go under various bridges and into places that other ships cannot go.  If you add much to them, it defeats that purpose.  

 

Various (totally non scientific) reports seem to suggest the least popular ships in the fleet are the Sunshine, Sunrise and Conquest, with both of the "Sun" ships being older than the Spirit class.  If Carnival is going to start cutting up more ships, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go after the Fantasy Class is done.

 

 

I doubt they'll add decks to the Spirit class like they did the Sunshine, but I could definitely see them rip out some lounges and part of the theater for more staterooms. And partially de-Farcus them at the same time.

[EBFURR]

On 5/25/2022 at 4:08 PM, Itried4498 said:

 

I'm sure there's more to this story.  I wouldn't be surprised if Charleston tried to negotiate a contract extension with Carnival, but at rate & terms Carnival wouldn't agree to, and thus it opted to proceed without Carnival.

Hi, we live on the SC coast and have long time friends who are Charleston natives so we get some inside scoop from time to time. One friend owned a business in Charleston for over 35 years and was active in the business community. A lot of the businesses liked the traffic that the cruise line brought especially after the closure of the naval base in the 90s. Norwegian was there for many years before Carnival. For many years there has been a relatively small but very vocal and politically active group who were strongly anti cruise port. They also are opposed to a lot of other tourism related businesses but that's another story. It appears that they finally got their way. The city of Charleston refused to renew the cruise contract. Nothing to do with Carnival. The land where the port lies is being redeveloped according to a redevelopment plan being drawn up. There are no plans for another cruise port. There are berthing facilities for cruise ships as a port of call but no plans to be a port of departure which requires a much larger facility than what will remain. Many business owners are not happy about the cruise port closing but the current local government climate is not very pro business according to my sources. There are news articles from the local news that confirm that it was the city government that ended the contract. 

Living only a little over an hour away ourselves we are pretty disappointed. 

[Indytraveler83]

39 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

I doubt they'll add decks to the Spirit class like they did the Sunshine, but I could definitely see them rip out some lounges and part of the theater for more staterooms. And partially de-Farcus them at the same time.

 

That seems far more likely, especially if they see the Spirit class as a long term part of the fleet.

[mz-s]

10 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

 

That seems far more likely, especially if they see the Spirit class as a long term part of the fleet.

 

I think the calculus on keeping them longer than Fantasy class vessels is more favorable, since they have so many balconies and suites and those rooms generate more booking $$$ obviously. And as long as it's worthwhile for Carnival to stay in Baltimore, Tampa, and Jacksonville at least - they'll need ships this size.

[SRQbeachgirl]

6 hours ago, Joebucks said:

I will agree with you on the flight there. Especially with the times we are living in, many people aren't going to gravitate towards that flight. Florida would be much easier.

 

However, no Florida or any other nearby state departure can offer the itinerary that San Juan can for a 7 day.

 

We did one of those San Juan departures back in the 90's. Guadeloupe, Grenada, Aruba, Caracas (okay, Caracas was a bit sketchy, even back then...). But that flight was not fun, especially since we were coming from Dallas with a connecting in Miami and the weather was terrible. We were late landing in Miami and were the only ones from about two dozen people on our Dallas-Miami flight that needed to make the Miami-San Juan flight. Fortunately for those people, Carnival delayed sailing until about 1 or 2am because so many people were delayed due to the storms across the southeast.

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 hours ago, EBFURR said:

Hi, we live on the SC coast and have long time friends who are Charleston natives so we get some inside scoop from time to time. One friend owned a business in Charleston for over 35 years and was active in the business community. A lot of the businesses liked the traffic that the cruise line brought especially after the closure of the naval base in the 90s. Norwegian was there for many years before Carnival. For many years there has been a relatively small but very vocal and politically active group who were strongly anti cruise port. They also are opposed to a lot of other tourism related businesses but that's another story. It appears that they finally got their way. The city of Charleston refused to renew the cruise contract. Nothing to do with Carnival. The land where the port lies is being redeveloped according to a redevelopment plan being drawn up. There are no plans for another cruise port. There are berthing facilities for cruise ships as a port of call but no plans to be a port of departure which requires a much larger facility than what will remain. Many business owners are not happy about the cruise port closing but the current local government climate is not very pro business according to my sources. There are news articles from the local news that confirm that it was the city government that ended the contract. 

Living only a little over an hour away ourselves we are pretty disappointed. 

Thanks for this info. It goes along from my findings as well.

[Seashell337]

On 5/28/2022 at 7:22 PM, stobe1 said:

 

Carnival routinely has calls to the ABC islands in the deep southern Caribbean. They are non-Journey 8 day cruises. I have done two of them since the restart last summer, both on the Horizon.

We are on that cruise in September. The ABC’s have been on my to do list for a while.

[jsglow]

We certainly like the ABCs. That said, not sailing regularly to St. Lucia, Barbados, etc. leaves a pretty big whole in Carnival's offerings. Still, I do think it's important to note that Carnival exists in the '4-7 day vacation' space, not the 'world traveler' space. Still, some of the latter is valuable as they can typically command a bit of a price premium. 

[TruckerDave]

17 hours ago, EBFURR said:

Hi, we live on the SC coast and have long time friends who are Charleston natives so we get some inside scoop from time to time. One friend owned a business in Charleston for over 35 years and was active in the business community. A lot of the businesses liked the traffic that the cruise line brought especially after the closure of the naval base in the 90s. Norwegian was there for many years before Carnival. For many years there has been a relatively small but very vocal and politically active group who were strongly anti cruise port. They also are opposed to a lot of other tourism related businesses but that's another story. It appears that they finally got their way. The city of Charleston refused to renew the cruise contract. Nothing to do with Carnival. The land where the port lies is being redeveloped according to a redevelopment plan being drawn up. There are no plans for another cruise port. There are berthing facilities for cruise ships as a port of call but no plans to be a port of departure which requires a much larger facility than what will remain. Many business owners are not happy about the cruise port closing but the current local government climate is not very pro business according to my sources. There are news articles from the local news that confirm that it was the city government that ended the contract. 

Living only a little over an hour away ourselves we are pretty disappointed. 

It was the South Carolina port authority NOT the city of Charleston that made the decision.   And as a Charleston resident (and this won't be a popular opinion on here) I am glad.  The downtown is a mess to get around in, and during "cruise ship days" it is a complete disaster trying to get around that part of downtown.  The city is already packed with tourists year round, so this won't be great loss.

[wgeddings]

2 hours ago, TruckerDave said:

It was the South Carolina port authority NOT the city of Charleston that made the decision.   And as a Charleston resident (and this won't be a popular opinion on here) I am glad.  The downtown is a mess to get around in, and during "cruise ship days" it is a complete disaster trying to get around that part of downtown.  The city is already packed with tourists year round, so this won't be great loss.

I am near Charleston and I can agree that it will likely have little immediate effect on Charleston businesses since it is so busy with tourists anyway.  However, when people find out I am from SC, they usually know of either Charleston or Myrtle Beach.  I am very proud of Charleston and is a beautiful and historic city with tons to see and do as well as unbelievable food.  I believe it is an ideal port of call and should be a home port.  There is no other US home port I would encourage someone to come a day early or stay a day later but someone just passing through Charleston is really missing out.  
 

I hope a deal will be worked out and I would love to see more lines make Charleston a home port.  
 

it is worth noting that most people from SC say they are from SC but people from Charleston usually first say they are from Charleston with SC being only secondary.  🙂. I have heard many times that true Charlestonians do not consider anyone FROM Charleston till you are at least 3rd generation there.  

[mz-s]

20 hours ago, EBFURR said:

Hi, we live on the SC coast and have long time friends who are Charleston natives so we get some inside scoop from time to time. One friend owned a business in Charleston for over 35 years and was active in the business community. A lot of the businesses liked the traffic that the cruise line brought especially after the closure of the naval base in the 90s. Norwegian was there for many years before Carnival. For many years there has been a relatively small but very vocal and politically active group who were strongly anti cruise port. They also are opposed to a lot of other tourism related businesses but that's another story. It appears that they finally got their way. The city of Charleston refused to renew the cruise contract. Nothing to do with Carnival. The land where the port lies is being redeveloped according to a redevelopment plan being drawn up. There are no plans for another cruise port. There are berthing facilities for cruise ships as a port of call but no plans to be a port of departure which requires a much larger facility than what will remain. Many business owners are not happy about the cruise port closing but the current local government climate is not very pro business according to my sources. There are news articles from the local news that confirm that it was the city government that ended the contract. 

Living only a little over an hour away ourselves we are pretty disappointed. 

 

The city of Charleston does not own the port, it was not their contract to renew or not renew. The SC Port Authority owns the facility and decides what it is used for.

[Guest BasicSailor]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

The city of Charleston does not own the port, it was not their contract to renew or not renew. The SC Port Authority owns the facility and decides what it is used for.

It's obvious SC port Authority owns it as part of it is in ruins. Something that proves to me there were never any plans to rebuild it. Still, I know the city of Charleston would condemn some of those buildings if it were city owned. I actually wondered in the past why those buildings were even standing with the roofs decaying, caving in. Definitely and eye sore for sure.

Edited May 30, 2022 by BasicSailor

[Guest BasicSailor]

4 hours ago, TruckerDave said:

It was the South Carolina port authority NOT the city of Charleston that made the decision.   And as a Charleston resident (and this won't be a popular opinion on here) I am glad.  The downtown is a mess to get around in, and during "cruise ship days" it is a complete disaster trying to get around that part of downtown.  The city is already packed with tourists year round, so this won't be great loss.

True most people head down 17 and hit Bay street and it becomes a cluster Duck event on cruise day for sure. Bay street is as old and narrow as the city is wide. Which isn't saying too much 😉

Edited May 30, 2022 by BasicSailor

[Tradestock]

4 hours ago, BasicSailor said:

True most people head down 17 and hit Bay street and it becomes a cluster Duck event on cruise day for sure. Bay street is as old and narrow as the city is wide. Which isn't saying too much 😉

We were there when a marathon was taking place on embarkation morning.  An added level of driving/parking difficulty with plenty of cursing included, all without GPS in an unfamiliar city. The paper print out directions did not recalculate. 🙃 We were sailing with a different line many years ago, and chose not to return to Charleston or continue sailing with the cruise company.  On a nicer note, if the math calculations indicate the South Carolina ship fits into the Mobile channel and port we'd be happy to have her.😁

[tidecat]

1 hour ago, Tradestock said:

We were there when a marathon was taking place on embarkation morning.  An added level of driving/parking difficulty with plenty of cursing included, all without GPS in an unfamiliar city. The paper print out directions did not recalculate. 🙃 We were sailing with a different line many years ago, and chose not to return to Charleston or continue sailing with the cruise company.  On a nicer note, if the math calculations indicate the South Carolina ship fits into the Mobile channel and port we'd be happy to have her.😁

The Triumph (now Sunrise) and Conquest have docked in Mobile, so Sunshine docking in Mobile isn't an issue. The size of the terminal is the bigger constraint, which is why I think we'd be more likely to see Sunshine redeployed to Port Canaveral or Miami to serve the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean, freeing up a larger ship for seasonal service to Alaska, and Spirit staying put year-round in Mobile.

 

The other solution would be to put a second ship in Jacksonville, but the height restriction limits the available inventory. It would probably mean moving Miracle out of Long Beach given the constraints elsewhere. As long as Elation and Sunshine weren't scheduled to depart on the same dates, this would allow no changes to be made to any planned port calls in the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean if Carnival has started making port reservations for mid-2024 and beyond.

 

From Atlanta, Mobile and Charleston are almost exactly the same drive time. Jacksonville is only about 15-20 minutes further. Norfolk is significantly further from Atlanta - Port Canaveral is actually closer.

 

Mobile wins pretty much everything on the I-65 corridor south of Louisville (Baltimore), but of course can't do short cruises to the east. If you ignore Baltimore, the cut point between Mobile and New Orleans falls somewhere in Chicago.

 

From Charlotte, Norfolk is only about a half-hour closer than Jacksonville. It's actually a tad less for the Knoxville area (and at that point, Baltimore is a very close third).

 

Norfolk wins when your start looking at Raleigh, Durham, and the Greensboro area, and of course Eastern Virginia.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Jacksonville gets the nod, at least seasonally. How Carnival plans to approach Alaska and Europe in 2024 might impact the decision.

[mz-s]

The Carnival Sunshine will not fit in Jacksonville. I think Sunshine will spend the rest of her days after she leaves Charleston running short cruises out of Miami or some other port with multiple ships. She is now the oldest in the fleet after all.

 

I do hope Carnival decides to put a ship in Norfolk year-round in light of this decision. But I don't think it'll be the Sunshine.