RED ALERT! RCCL pulling out of Galveston??

[cowtowncowgirl]

:eek: I just got an e-mail from my nephew stating that his travel agent in San Antonio, Texas told him that Royal Caribbean is eventually pulling out of Galveston and that NCL is pulling out of port of Houston. We have sailed the Rhapsody several times and I know she is going to the Orient fairly soon. The agent said that the Voyager will be in Galveston just for a trial period and that after that, that's it! YIKES!

 

Anyone know the real skinny on this????? Say it isn't so!!!

Mary Lou :confused: :confused:

[Tex_Jen]

That would be quite short-sighted as the Rhapsody runs full most weekends.

 

As for NCL pulling out of Houston, a whole new terminal was built to make things better for them.

 

Jen

[EastTexans2]

We just returned from Splendour on Thursday and we talked to the crew about Galveston. They said not to worry, there would always be a ship for Galveston.

[Nitra]

There is a new cruise terminal opening, Bayport, you can find info on the port of Houston website. I believe NCL and other lines are waiting for it to open and just dont want to get into another contract with the other terminals at this time. Voyager is here from Dec 23 until April then she heads back to Europe, I believe. It has always been the plan to move Rhapsody at some point.

 

 

Crew on Splendor and Rhapsody have both said there is going to be some ship movement going on, to just wait and give it a little time.

[texaskeystone]

That's too depressing to even think about. From what I have seen and heard, RCCL has always operated pretty full out of Galveston, mostly with drive-in passengers from Texas. I just returned yesterday off of a rare 5-night Rhapsody cruise (odd-ball cruise because RCCL was preparing her for dry dock beginning today). I wish RCCL would run both 5 and 7 day intineraries out of Galveston; that probably won't happen, but I can't imagine them leaving Galveston altogether. This will be an interesting thread to follow.

[firefly333]

Splendor runs 4/5 day cruises, but not to ports I really want to visit, so I hope they also run another ship for 7 day cruises like Rhapsody after she leaves.

 

I signed up in 2 months to go out on Rhapsody and glad I did. Can't wait.

[Host Kewlguy]

From what we were told, after Voyager's trial run for one year another Vision class ship would be sailing out of Galveston. As for Royal eventually leaving Galveston completely, not a chance.

[cowtowncowgirl]

:o Thank heavens! Thanks to all who have helped to lift my mood. I had always thought that the Rhapsody had no problem filling her cabins, and I just could not imagine RCCL pulling out of such a lucrative market.

 

It will be interesting to see if another cruise agent chimes in here. I would call the Crown and Anchor desk at RCCL, but I bet a zillion dollars they would never tell!

 

Mary Lou

(landlocked in Fort Worth!)

[ShrinkinTexas]

I posted this on the other thread too:

 

I just got back today from the Splendour. I asked many of these same questions while on board to future cruise sales man (sorry, can't recall his name). He said that RCI will NOT pull out of Galveston, but that they just don't know about April 08 yet (ship, etc.). The Splendour is not coming back, but he promised that there would be a ship there. Don't know how accurate his info is, but that's what he said.

[BallFour4]

From what we were told, after Voyager's trial run for one year another Vision class ship would be sailing out of Galveston. As for Royal eventually leaving Galveston completely, not a chance.

 

While all of us would like this to be a done deal, right now that's not the case.

 

After April 2008 the Voyager has no scheduled sailings from Galveston. That is effectively the end of scheduled departures from Galveston unless something else happens.

 

Some points; Galveston has a fierce loyalty to Carnival. The cruise line loaned the Port of Galveston millions to refurbish and build modern cruise facilities and the Ecstasy reflects a good value for drive-up port cruisers for 4-5 sailings. One of our favorites for a quick trip!

 

The Conquest arrived in Galveston after Katrina ravished New Orleans and all speculation is the ship will remain in Galveston. Carnival loaned the money to the port after the Conquest arrived.

 

RCCL has sailed the Rhapsody for a long, successful run of 7 night cruises, and like most we've enjoyed her several times.

 

The Splendour has also done well in Galveston for 4-5 day departures, but she was never assigned here full time.

 

The Bayport Terminal opened for commercial freight traffic last week and has three modern cruise docks scheduled for completion in under 12 months. Bayport has also hired a cruise marketing director to showcase the facility to cruise lines.

 

NCL operated from the Barbors Cut terminal in La Porte with junk for ships and did well for a while for first time cruisers. The Barbors Cut facility isn't a significant investment, or big enough for the larger vessels.

 

Sooooooo... for now the fact that RCCL does have a schedule that ends in 2008 is true. My bet is a newer RCCL ship and comparable NCL ship both serving Bayport and RCCL leaving the Galveston area for Carnival's exclusive use.

 

We sail the Rhapsody in June, so perhaps the crew will be more informed with some of the changes then.

[StormGoddess]

From the loyalty ambassador on yesterday's sailing, this year and next is bringing a LOT of repositioning with all the new ships RCI has and coming. But there will be something heading back into Galveston.

[reney313]

We just got off the Grandeur in New Orleans. They did confirm that RCCL was pulling completely out of NOLA...The question then did come up about Galveston and they all stated that there would be a ship there after April 2008, they just didn't know which one yet. So..it sounds like they're only plan is pulling out of NOLA and definitely keeping Galveston. Since they are both the same distance from the Midwest, pulling out of NoLA should only increase demand in Galveston, in my opinion. I would be suprised if they completely pulled out of both. A question also came up if they had any plans to move to Mobile and that was met with a resounding "NO", (except for drydock).

[reney313]

sorry, duplicate post

[mrBit]

RCI is not going anywhere, moreover RCI is moving Voyager temp. To Galveston, because they KNOW it will fill other wise it would not make sense, businesses are not in business to lose money, and the Voyager is just filling the time gap in between.

 

NCL is not going either they made a contract with Houston, moreover Houston is going to try and take business away from Galveston as it always has, BUT the one caveat is that Carnival and RCI is behind Galveston and already put the dough down to prove it, they are not going anywhere.

 

http://ncppp.org/cases/galveston.shtml

 

Read and enjoy the rest of the articles for those that doubt.

http://portofgalveston.com/news/newsreleases/1-2006-6-Cruise-Eco-Impact.pdf

PORT OF GALVESTON RANKS #11 IN WORLD

#4 Cruise Port in the Continental U.S.

http://portofgalveston.com/news/newsreleases/1-2006-3-CruiseRankings.pdf

http://portofgalveston.com/news/newsreleases/1-2006-2VoyagerOfTheSeas.pdf

“Since Carnival Cruise Line began home porting a second ship in Galveston in 2000, the number of passengers has steadily increased from a 32,000 to 616,939 in 2006. Besides Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess sail out of Galveston.

The result is a No. 4 ranking by number of passengers among U.S. ports, good for a No. 11 worldwide ranking. Only Florida's popular ports of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral service more passengers.”

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070121/LIFE09/701210331/1025

[cruiseknots]

A full ship does not mean profitability. It is possible that a ship sailing full each week can have low yields depending on the fares that are charged for a particular sailing. Having said that, a better measure would be to monitor the fares being charged. If the fares are consistantly low, then it would be safe to say, the yields are pretty low. There are many other factors such as on board purchases etc. that also figure into it. It could be that although fares are typically lower for a given ship/port, those lower fares may be offset, by more casino, beverage, and other purchases than on other ships based on a particular demographic. Another factor is the cost per berth ratio which is lower on the larger ships and higher on smaller ships. This is why you see all the megaships going into service everywhere. I personally believe that the Rhapsody has been a success for RCI in Galveston by introducing it's product to that particular market. Now the Voyager can come in and probably generate more revenue since it's costs per berth are lower than that of the Rhapsody.

 

For those that are worried about May of 2008, the only ship in RCI's fleet that has a schedule past April, 2008 is the Rhapsody in Asia. As of the moment, the Voyager is not scheduled to return to Europe in May, 2008. I think we will know pretty soon on which RCI ship will call Galveston home. I too would like to see a second RCI ship offering 4 & 5 day cruises. We would go much more often if they did.

[mrBit]

There is some truth to what you say, however, it would be a bad business model in the end if passengers were not the bottom line, thus we have rock climbing, ice skating, shopping, royal promenade, surfing, sports... you name it all not spending in the Casino (opportunity costs). (I use the Casino example as it was stated before in another thread regarding Texans not spending in the casino.) In my opinion based on investments and by even bringing Voyager over to Galveston has to say something about Galveston, I mean I have faith in the business planners at RCI.

 

Some points; Galveston has a fierce loyalty to Carnival. The cruise line loaned the Port of Galveston millions to refurbish and build modern cruise facilities and the Ecstasy reflects a good value for drive-up port cruisers for 4-5 sailings. One of our favorites for a quick trip!

 

But so did RCI,

 

http://ncppp.org/cases/galveston.shtml

 

On September 9, 2002, the Port approved a cruise terminal agreement with Royal Caribbean and Carnival. On September 19, 2002, CH2M HILL was contracted to upgrade a dilapidated warehouse, modify 100 feet of wharf facilities, and construct access/circulation roads for passenger pickup and drop-off to accommodate new service for Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas - scheduled to arrive just seven weeks later

 

To meet the schedule and finance needs, short and long term financing has to be addressed quickly, and design-build delivery was chosen. Short-term cash to provide facilities for the first cruise ship was provided through negotiated bridge loans from Royal Caribbean and Carnival

[rorito]

I think it's likely Royal Caribbean will announce future schedules including Galveston/Houston by late April/early May. That seems to be when they release the next year's schedules.

[vettecruiser1]

I was on splendour 1/2007. L.A. told me that contract talks were still on going with Galveston and Houston. I thought that was strange, because never knew Houston had a terminal, but from the post above I guess they are building a new one. He said an annoucement would come April/May which is the same time for as always for the past few years for new schedules for the caribbean. Also, and this is coming from the Casino managers mouth as we spent enough time in there to be noticed, that the Splendour out revenues the rhapsody when it comes to Casino profit. He said that since Texas(non-gambling state) outlaws slots and table games alot of people look at the splendour as a casino cruise. I tend to believe that statement since the casino was packed every moment it was open. We have sailed the rhapsody twice and she did not seem as packed, there were some moments when it was a little crowded but not packed. The spendour at times was hard to get through because of the amount of people gambling. The Voyager will be good for galveston because the casino is at least twice the size and there is a non-smoking section that opens up at night, that I think a lot of people will enjoy.

 

Jason

 

Celebration 6/2002

Rhapsody OTS 9/2004

Rhapsody OTS 5/2005

Voyager OTS 1/2006

Spledour OTS 1/2007

[Mach1]

I agree with reney313 we also are just of the Grandeur and the Captain told us that RCI will no longer be in New Olreans for at least the next two years. They will still have a ship in Galveston, I thought he said it would be one of the new ships (not 100% sure, had a cocktail or two :p ).

 

He also said that the Grandeur will be based out of Tampa after it goes in to dry dock and gets refurbished.

[Suzanne74]

Personally, I would have rather RCCL stayed in NOLA then Galveston. It is a much better port to fly into and you can combine it with a few nights in NOLA. Galveston, no thanks.

[Lewdog]

Why would they be doing a trial run if they were pulling out? Kind of defeats the purpose.

[Host Kewlguy]

Personally, I would have rather RCCL stayed in NOLA then Galveston. It is a much better port to fly into and you can combine it with a few nights in NOLA. Galveston, no thanks.

 

NOLA may be a better port for you to fly into but Galveston is much easier for us. Continental Airlines has numerous direct flights between Newark to Houston.

[springtxbill]

New Orleans is limited on the number of flights that the airlines run there.

[mrBit]

One thing on a side note talking about western gulf coast ports such as Galveston and NOLA is that I wish there were more ports to go to like maybe building up Tampico, Veracruz (has a great Carnival) or perhaps Tabasco with some work or Campache, it could be called the Eastern Mexican Riviera.

[vettecruiser1]

If by chance R.C. moves up the road from galveston to Houston, it would make getting from the airport that much more easier. Hobby would only be about 10 minutes away and Bush International is about 20 minutes. Houston could actually be a even bigger gold mine then galveston due to location. As for different location to sail to, the rhapsody has been playing around with the internary that past year. And the voyager is visiting belize and I believe another different port also. Yep everything still revolves around cozumel, but when you are this far from the eastern caribbean, you take what you can get!!!! :eek: