terminal in Bayport. are they going to be 4/5 cruise??

[texasnana]

i tried to book spendour of the sea on board for next jan 2008 and the agent said no more 4/5 cruises for Texas. Then i read about bayport terminal why two terminals so close?? I do hope they do offer. And by the way on board they do have the cruise rates for 7 days spendour of the sea ofr jan 2008 i would call the cruise line and find out if you want to book that far ahead....

[zantedeschia]

iThen i read about bayport terminal why two terminals so close??

They belong to different cities. Bayport is operated by the Port of Houston. Why? I'm sure it's an economic thing. Will it negatively impact Galveston's cruise ship terminal? I doubt it.

 

Why so close? I ask the same thing about Florida, why does Florida get 4 cruise ship terminals??!!

 

You know what's interesting is that Houston is a major US seaport and she lies 50 miles inland.

[texasnana]

thanks..... i just google.com and htere is a picture of the new port.. is Norweigin going to be the only ship using it?? Also when will it be ready for Cuise use?? i want to book a 4 day but have more opitions then Carnival>>>

[zantedeschia]

Royal Caribbean announces their next year cruises around April/May I believe. If you want to book a 4/5 day, you'll have to wait until then. I don't know if they'll still have the short itineraries out of Houston/Galveston, hopefully they will.

[Guest scfjjb]

What I heard (via Houston Chronicle) is that RCI will be moving out of Galveston/Houston area completely after Voyager schedule in 2008 is complete (taking place of Rhapsody). Once their 5 year commitment is up they are not planning to renew.

 

Doesn't make much sense since they have been immensely popular here.

[Guest scfjjb]

sorry double post

[zantedeschia]

What I heard (via Houston Chronicle) is that RCI will be moving out of Galveston/Houston area completely after Voyager schedule in 2008 is complete (taking place of Rhapsody). Once their 5 year commitment is up they are not planning to renew.

 

I agree, does not make sense.

 

Guess we shall have to wait and see. I figured they were staying mum cause the were negotiating with the Port of Houston, but who knows? Someone on a recent Rhapsody cruise I believe it was said at the Captain's reception the Captain mentioned they were bringing another ship to the area but they hadn't announced which one yet.

[Guest scfjjb]

I agree, does not make sense.

 

Guess we shall have to wait and see. I figured they were staying mum cause the were negotiating with the Port of Houston, but who knows? Someone on a recent Rhapsody cruise I believe it was said at the Captain's reception the Captain mentioned they were bringing another ship to the area but they hadn't announced which one yet.

 

 

Last I read the Port of Houston had a "build it and they will come approach" and even NCL is probably leaving now. Should be interesting since Kemah is considering building a cruise port. Maybe we'll have 3 ports and no ships? Although I think Carnival is here to stay because Galveston owes them so much money.

[BallFour4]

Kemah is a shallow water inlet to Clear Lake. The depths needed for ships are only in the major shipping lanes like the Houston Ship Channel, The Bayport Channel and the Galveston Ship Channel.

 

Dredging of Galveston Bay in the Kemah area would face a list of lawsuits for the environmental impact of the bay. Simply put, it'll never happen if not for the cost alone. I've bumped the bottom too many times near the Kemah inlet at the wheel of a sailboat to know the depths are far to shallow.

 

Carnival has loaned Galveston Ports millions of dollars and the terminal is doing pretty well turning passengers every Sunday. I'd wager the Conquest and Ecstasy are in Galveston for a long time.

 

Bayport is an interesting future site. NCL had two older ships in La Porte at the container port and even with horrible ships they sailed nearly full.

 

Bayport Terminal has hired a full time cruise marketing director and you can bet something is in the works for their efforts. I'd wager NCL to make a return there soon after the docks construction is announced near completion.

 

RCCL is simply playing cat and mouse with us. The Rhapsody leaves and several weeks pass before the Voyager arrives. Then the Voyager is here for a few months.

 

Several scenarios exist; one is the relocation of the Grandeur to Galveston. The bookings from New Orleans are not filling up and the dollar impact from hurricane Katrina might not ever be recovered. Those poor people lost the Conquest and deserve a better fate.

 

The Grandeur and the Rhapsody are the same class ships, and I'd wager again that RCCL could fill the ships for 7-day agenda.

 

What does all this mean? We all have opinions (non of which are wrong) that differ in the form of speculation.

 

I had a chance to talk to some RCCL folks when we were guests aboard the Freedom for a 2 nighter and they are not going to get in the deep discount war with Carnival and the Ecstasy.

 

Prior to the Elation leaving you could take a cruise for 2 for a week for under $800 including fees. That is a loss leader that even a major line does not want to have on their books for any length of time.

 

Until the schedules are posted we can all speculate. How's about a Galveston cruisers get together at Kemah one evening and we can debate the future of Texas cruises? :D

 

.

[zantedeschia]

 

RCCL is simply playing cat and mouse with us. The Rhapsody leaves and several weeks pass before the Voyager arrives. Then the Voyager is here for a few months.

 

Until the schedules are posted we can all speculate. How's about a Galveston cruisers get together at Kemah one evening and we can debate the future of Texas cruises? :D

.

One thing I'm positive about is if RCI pulls out of the Houston/Galveston area completely, people are going to be screaming.

[zantedeschia]

[....

[Guest scfjjb]

Kemah is a shallow water inlet to Clear Lake. The depths needed for ships are only in the major shipping lanes like the Houston Ship Channel, The Bayport Channel and the Galveston Ship Channel.

 

Since Bayport is within a couple miles of Kemah I think that is the site the plan I read was referring to as a "Kemah cruise terminal".

 

I'm down the road from Kemah so a debate is fine with me:) .

[Houtx1559]

OK, two points. The "cruise director" Bayport hired was a senior manager at RCCL before he took the job at Bayport. At least he has good contacts with RCCL. About two weeks ago I was on Norwegian Dream out of Houston and someone asked Captain Lars about the future of NCL in Houston. His comment was that he didn't know for sure, and that so far no one could tell them when Bayport would be open. He implied that NCL would NOT return to the Houston terminal after this season because the facilities are getting so bad. Take it for what it's worth, I think RCCL will move to Bayport, and NCL will put some ship there too. The real question is when? No one seems to know when that terminal will be ready.

[Sassy Chassis]

Great...I moved closer to the ships and they start pulling them out :rolleyes: I was expecting to have my choice of cruiselines/ships and short or long cruises to choose from :(

[In the Pink]

The League City Chamber luncheon on Friday, February 9 is going to have a presentation by Bayport officials. I've already made my reservation. I'll certainly be posting what I learn so watch for it after that date.

[BallFour4]

...I think RCCL will move to Bayport, and NCL will put some ship there too.

 

I'd agree with both of your cruise lines coming to Bayport.

 

The toll road system supports travel from Bush Intercontinental in less than an hour and Hobby would take 30 minues or less.

 

Transportation will need to be quick and reasonably priced. I'd wager the cruise lines themselves contracting direct with the local transportation companies.

 

Warm weather and a good Saturday night band will make the first Kemah Boardwalk CC'rs meeting a success. Might be a plan :D

[In the Pink]

A Kemah CC'ers meeting would be great! DH and I did go to one when I first "discovered" CC before our first cruise, but it was way on the north side, or South Dallas as he likes to call it!

[clearlakecruisers]

Ready for the First Annual CC's meeting on the Kemah Boardwalk!!

 

Very interested in what the Bayport officials say at the League City C of C meeting. Keep us informed, InThePink. I'm thinking some of the hotels/motels in the Clear Lake area should get together and promote the area for pre- and post-cruising stays. They could offer shuttle service to the cruise terminal and even shuttle service from Hobby for a fee. If I had a lodging facility in the area, I'd certainly join in on such an effort.

[In the Pink]

See my post regarding latest Bayport info here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=496885

[zantedeschia]

I read somewhere recently that Galveston ranked 12th in cruise ship ports which is really good considering the terminal isn't state of the art or anything. Bayport is supposed to make Houston jump into the top 3. I'm still trying to dredge up statistics on it.

 

Okay according to this article, Galveston is ranked 11th worldwide and 5th in North America:

http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=f090d4374e1c95cc

[In the Pink]

Bayport is supposed to make Houston jump into the top 3. I'm still trying to dredge up statistics on it.

 

I posted the projected number of passengers for Houston (vs. Miami) in the thread I just linked to.

[zantedeschia]

I posted the projected number of passengers for Houston (vs. Miami) in the thread I just linked to.

Nifty. I hope that sates the naysayers for a while.