Houston building a "state of the art" cruise terminal?? (Merged threads)

[electricron]

I found this link to Houston's $81 milliion Bayport New Cruise Terminal on the web. The link also has a link to a five minute movie.

 

http://www.portofhouston.com/cruiseinfo/bayportcruise.html

 

Why is NCL departing Houston for the fall/winter 2007 season?

 

Yes, escalators and elevators!

[Don Haynes]

Here is some information about the Bayport Cruise Terminal at this link including a link to a five minute video:

 

http://www.portofhouston.com/cruiseinfo/bayportcruise.html

 

Its too open in summer of 2007. I wonder which cruise line will station their ships there in the future? At $81 million, that is a large investment from the Port of Houston.

 

I wonder why so many cruise lines are leaving Texas it seems in the next few years?

[brn2crz]

Here is some information about the Bayport Cruise Terminal at this link including a link to a five minute video:

 

http://www.portofhouston.com/cruiseinfo/bayportcruise.html

 

Its too open in summer of 2007. I wonder which cruise line will station their ships there in the future? At $81 million, that is a large investment from the Port of Houston.

 

I wonder why so many cruise lines are leaving Texas it seems in the next few years?

 

You know..This is the first time I am really looking and seeing exactly what they are doing there...It looks like it is going to be a really nice facility,and blow away anything that Galveston & the current Barbers Cut facility are offering...

I bet there alot of "ship switching" that we have yet to hear about,and I bet there are plenty of contracts soon to be signed..I have recently gotten a slight "contact" with the new gal they have hired for Cruise Marketing for the POH....When the time is right,I will see if she has any insight,or better yet,be willing to post some tidbits on CC.

[Don Haynes]

Barbours Cut's terminal will be destroyed, its obvious that the container business has overwhelmed that port.

 

When I returned on the Carnival Conquest, this ship at 960 feet in length barley turned around in the harbor at Galveston. I haven't a clue how Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas will be able to make that turn. Therefore, I expect Royal Caribbean will bid the most to use Bayport.

 

It appears Bayport can be expanded from the one dock being built in the future. With the cruise ships becoming larger recently, I suspect Galveston will still be useful for two Panamax sized ships. Besides, Galveston's terminal is a very nice terminal too.

 

It appears Norwegian will leave this spring and won't return for a few years.

[DannyMac]

There is much speculation about cruise lines leaving Galveston, but few explanations. Some believe it is the Port of Calls available, some say its the distance across the Gulf or the problems with disembarkation at Galveston. Another factor not mentioned is maybe the cruiselines are at the end of their contracts with Galveston and are looking north to the Port of Houston and a better deal.

 

The Port of Houston would not be spending $81 million to build a state of the art cruise terminal if there was not interest from the cruiselines. How this shakes out will be interesting as we live 10 miles from the new terminal.

[BonNYTX]

You know..This is the first time I am really looking and seeing exactly what they are doing there...It looks like it is going to be a really nice facility,and blow away anything that Galveston & the current Barbers Cut facility are offering...

I bet there alot of "ship switching" that we have yet to hear about,and I bet there are plenty of contracts soon to be signed..I have recently gotten a slight "contact" with the new gal they have hired for Cruise Marketing for the POH....When the time is right,I will see if she has any insight,or better yet,be willing to post some tidbits on CC.

 

Waves hello to CAT! My money is on you to fill us in on the latest when it becomes available. As you can see I have one more time on the Rhapsody. sniff.. sniff. I gotta ask. What is POH (port of Houston?) and FOH?

DON, thanks for the great link. It really looks awesome and I am sure we will be seeing some significant positive changes in the Houston port. :D Please keep us posted as well!

[brn2crz]

Whats up Bonnie...:D And Merry Christmas

 

I know...I am jealous of your future Rhapsody sailing...I don't think I will get another one in on her..

Had our first Grand Son last night....Well....hard to explain,born in Okinawa so not exactly sure other than Dec 23rd, 1 pm our time...anyhoo...any travel between now and my Voyager sailing in 08 will be to Okinawa to see him...

 

My contact is neighbors co-workers neighbor....I would love for her to give us a sneak...But.....it really seems like all negotiations are still ongoing...And yes..POH is for port of Houston...all though the cruise terminal is actually at the Bayport facility which is further south on the channel..

[BonNYTX]

Whats up Bonnie...:D And Merry Christmas

 

I know...I am jealous of your future Rhapsody sailing...I don't think I will get another one in on her..

Had our first Grand Son last night....Well....hard to explain,born in Okinawa so not exactly sure other than Dec 23rd, 1 pm our time...anyhoo...any travel between now and my Voyager sailing in 08 will be to Okinawa to see him...

 

My contact is neighbors co-workers neighbor....I would love for her to give us a sneak...But.....it really seems like all negotiations are still ongoing...And yes..POH is for port of Houston...all though the cruise terminal is actually at the Bayport facility which is further south on the channel..

 

Awwww what a wonderful Christmas gift. A new grandbaby and your first grandson! Congrats!! I guess if you can't be on the Rhapsody again, seeing him for the first time is just as good!! :) You must be so excited!

Will you be on the Voyager's first cruise out of Galveston? If it were mid Jan. we probably could have joined you. Travel times seem to be July or first 3 weeks of Jan. Maybe one day! Would love to read a review comparing both ship experiences, Rhapsody vs. Voyager, both out of Galveston. Same cruisers, same on board feeling?? I know Voyager has much more to offer but we are talking Texans here who are very loyal to the Rhapsody.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a Joyous New Year!

[yst347]

I woke up this morning, went outside and picked up the paper and what do I see on the cover?

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4524635.html

 

The Bayport facility has opened to container traffic! While the Houston Chronicle article has little info about the new cruise facility it does say this toward the end.

 

"The cruise terminal, which originally was slated to open later this year, is scheduled to open in early 2008."

 

So it is still a year away from hosting ships. At least this helps explain why we have not seen any ships scheduled to sail from Bayport. It could also mean further delays but I hope not.

[Carolyn1950]

I woke up this morning, went outside and picked up the paper and what do I see on the cover?

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4524635.html

 

The Bayport facility has opened to container traffic! While the Houston Chronicle article has little info about the new cruise facility it does say this toward the end.

 

"The cruise terminal, which originally was slated to open later this year, is scheduled to open in early 2008."

 

So it is still a year away from hosting ships. At least this helps explain why we have not seen any ships scheduled to sail from Bayport. It could also mean further delays but I hope not.

 

I was disappointed to read the cruise ship terminal is a year away from opening.. I have been watching this board daily hoping to see an NCL ship going in.. We have 4 cruises with them and just beginning to get past passenger perks.. But now we are back to looking at the Conquest for september..

 

Thank you so much for the update..

[DannyMac]

I don't think the Port of Houston would invest the kind of money to build a state of the art cruise terminal if they didn't have some positive response from the cruise line industry on homeporting ships at the new terminal.

 

We live 8-10 miles from the new "ship terminal and wharfs". The construction of warehouses and upgrading the infrastructure is moving along at breakneck speed. When we see new hotels being built along State 146, you can bet the ships are close. ClearLake cruisers may be able to expand on the support infrastructure in that area.

[clearlakecruisers]

Last time I was in the Bayport area it was alive with constuction but the cruise terminal, according to today's newspaper, is now set to open in 2008, not 2007.

 

There is a plan in the works to expand the road into the terminal area (Port Road) from Hwy 146 into a four-land divided roadway for the entire distance (now is only two-lane part of the way). I'm also thinking that the plethora of new motels/hotels in the Clear Lake/NASA area is, in some way, the result of plans for serving cruisers. Hwy 146 is also being "improved" - although many businesses in Seabrook don't see it that way. I'm figuring that they will have that road torn up completely about the time the cruise terminal opens in 2008 - our government at work for us;)

 

Nothing much talk around here currently about new construction on Hwy 146 but there are plans in Seabrook to develop the Flats area across the Clear Lake Channel from the Kemah Boardwalk.

 

Can you tell that I'm a real estate appraiser???

[mickmobo]

Also living in Clear Lake I am amazed that a cruise terminal would do well in Bay Port. It is a pain to get to! Hobby to Galveston is very easy -- get on 45 S and turn left once you get to the island.

 

Baytown may be a bit closer to IAH, but I am not sure it will be much quicker. 146 is not highway and has a bunch of lights.

[clearlakecruisers]

Not sure the access to the Bayport terminal will be too difficult. It is fairly easy to get to 610 Loop from either airport and Hwy 225 comes right off the Loop in a straight shot to Hwy 146. The section of Hwy 146 heading south to Port Road is mostly freeway with few lights - although it can get quite congested around Seabrook/Kemah and that will get worse before it gets better due to the proposed road expansion. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Port Road is also being expanded which should help with making one's way past the Port itself with all the trucks loading/unloading to the cruise terminal to the east.

[In the Pink]

I attended a Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week which featured a guest speaker from the Houston Bayport operation. In fact, she is formerly with Royal Caribbean and is now the the person with the new port who is doing the negotiating with the cruiselines.

 

This port will be a totally different animal than Galveston. Basically she said the goal is to make Houston the new Miami. They have 140 acres and are going to have 3 cruise terminals (yes, starting off with one in April 2008, then expanding to three). The number 2 and 3 berths will be reserved for specific ships like Project Genesis which will hold 10,000 pax. (not that she said that ship is contracted, just using it as an example).

 

There will be a "retail" area at the port which will include hotels, restaurants, even themeparks, etc, so that they can offer "quality" pre- and post-cruise packages. She indicated that this port will host ships with clients who will have a "higher per diem spending", and although when asked which lines, she said she couldn't say because she was still in negotiations, but she did mention Disney several times, especially in regard to the themepark. Of course, Tilman Fertitta isn't out of the picture, either. 35% of the retail area is reserved for small business.

 

She is working on unique "send offs" for each different cruise line to make it really fun to depart from Houston.

 

There will be 800-1000 (non-covered) parking spaces, but they will be looking to the hotels in the retail area to provide most of the parking (covered) and shuttles.

 

They are also looking into things such as a water taxi to the Kemah Boardwalk, a trolley system, etc.

 

She said that the port will have totally separate embarkation and debarkation areas, so we won't have the traffic nightmare we have at Galveston with everybody coming and going at the same time.

 

She gave us the following stats on Texas cruise passengers:

2005 - 531,000

2006 - 635,000

2007 - projected 655,000

2008 - projected 760,000

2009 - projected 935,000 (Houston only)

2010 - projected 1,125,000 (Houston only) (Miami 1,771,000 but I don't know if that is current or projected for 2010)

 

Those are all the notes I took, but if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them. I think this pretty much covers everything she said, though.

[MidWestBud]

Hi Marla,

Did she give any kind of a time line for the development of the port terminals and the retail/hotel areas? I, for one, am excited about the possibilities. I would certainly be interested in another cruise option and, with family in the immediate area, spending an extended time in Houston.

 

Buddy

[brn2crz]

Hey Marie... Thanks so much for the update..

 

Is this Kay Adams that was there? I have been trying to talk to her and/or her office,to get her to at least post some sort of update article here.

I know obviously,she cant committ to anything...But a lot of people are really "freaking" out with nothing listed for Galveston..

 

I am sure eventualy,we will have some great ships here..May just take awhile !:D

 

By the way..Cant remember..Are you joining us on the Voyager Group Cruise?

[In the Pink]

Hi, Buddy

 

She said the first terminal is expected to be completed by Jan '08 with the first ship sailing in April '08. She didn't talk about the dates for the other 2 terminals, but I doubt it would be much longer than that, especially not if they are planning on really pumping up those passenger numbers by 2009.

 

I would assume they would want at least 50% of the retail area ready when the first ship sails, but she didn't really address that.

 

I do have her business card, so I'll see what I can find out.

[In the Pink]

Hi, Cat

 

Yes, it was Kay Adams. Yeah, I'm one who has been freaking out about the lack of availability in Galveston, but it sounds to me like that doesn't have anything to do with this POH. She's not negotiating for a Rhapsody or a Conquest. Now, whether or not RCCL is going to want to have a Freedom or Genesis at Houston AND a Rhapsody or Splendour at Galveston is another question, but it does sound like two different markets in terms of dollars.

 

And no, I'm afraid I'm not going to be on your group cruise as we have our own group already booked on January 13. I think you're going the week before, right?

[brn2crz]

Huummm...Well..shucks..That does not sound as good as I thought it did at first..:confused: But hey...Thanks for the great info...

 

We are going the week of the 27th....As long as you promise to bring her back for us :D

[DannyMac]

I live in Deer Park, Texas and in the local paper this week the president of the CC was talking about trying to attract the cruise passengers to the DP area hotels/motels. She indicated a need to upgrade infrastructure as the number of passengers will continue to grow as the port expands. This is the first news statement made public about the port terminals.

 

We like the idea of POH locating the new terminal in Bayport as we live just 12 miles away and it will be really great to get on a cruise ship so close to home.:D

[Snoozeman]

Thanks for posting this Marla (and the email). April 2008 for the 1st ship works perfect for the Voyager which is still my theory. I downloaded the master plan a couple of week ago and it does show three berths so I was expecting that. Glad to hear about all the future plans.

[arf2005]

http://130.80.29.3/disp/story.mpl/nb/bay/news/4546057.html

 

http://www.coasterphotos.com/Kemah/coaster.htm

 

 

Check this out for the Kemah Boardwalk.

[clearlakecruisers]

Marla,

 

Thanks for all the info on the POH. Sounds like they are planning something special - which would certainly be a step up from the current Barbours Cut location - in fact, almost ANYHTING would be a step up from that!!!

 

Wonder if the plan of Commissioner Sylvia Garcia(??) to "dress up" the area along Hwy 225 and around the San Jacinto Monument area is also a reaction to the POH upgrade. I think the original governmental funding source was cut but, the last I heard, she was pursuing another financing venue. (More taxes??).

 

I really like the idea of water taxi to Kemah and I hope they plan for some sort of organized shuttle service to both airports. The transportation question, given the size of our area, is something that I feel must be addressed by the ports of both Houston and Galveston. Cruisers shouldn't be having to search everywhere, as is often seen on this board, to find efficient and affordable service from our airports to the cruise terminals.

If we can send a man to the moon....:)

[In the Pink]

Wonder if the plan of Commissioner Sylvia Garcia(??) to "dress up" the area along Hwy 225 and around the San Jacinto Monument area is also a reaction to the POH upgrade. I think the original governmental funding source was cut but, the last I heard, she was pursuing another financing venue. (More taxes??).

 

I would think they would really want to catch some of that action with a more attractive and traveler friendly area.

 

I really like the idea of water taxi to Kemah and I hope they plan for some sort of organized shuttle service to both airports. The transportation question, given the size of our area, is something that I feel must be addressed by the ports of both Houston and Galveston. Cruisers shouldn't be having to search everywhere, as is often seen on this board, to find efficient and affordable service from our airports to the cruise terminals.

If we can send a man to the moon....:)

 

I completely agree. I would think that even Tilman Fertitta would be willing to kick out some bucks to provide some transportation solutions to the area in order to pump up his Kemah Boardwalk. I would bet the water taxi was probably his idea, but these folks definitely have to get to this region from the airports first.