Possible new cruise terminal in Jacksonville

[huxlemo]

This would be awesome!

 

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/091407/met_199356302.shtml

[texaridian]

Thanks for posting this link. I would love to have a cruise terminal in Jax. Not just because it would be nice to have a decent terminal, but more especially because it would mean we'd have more choices among ships. Plus, the bonus of being so close to the ocean would be nice. When we went out on the Celebration last February, it seemed to take an hour just to get up the river to open waters.

 

Happy Cruising.

[JaguarGirl]

Hopefully this will pass, but I fear the people who live in Mayport won't like it a whole lot and will try to stop it. I want to see Jacksonville thrive with more cruise ships. I'm so glad to see the Fascination coming to town. I'm going to miss the Celebration. It's so convenient to have a port in our hometown.

[DG2004]

I would love to see a nice port and ship in Jax....I have a ton of friends there and it would be close to G-ville for football games before and after the cruise

[MyImagination]

Hopefully this will pass, but I fear the people who live in Mayport won't like it a whole lot and will try to stop it. I want to see Jacksonville thrive with more cruise ships. I'm so glad to see the Fascination coming to town. I'm going to miss the Celebration. It's so convenient to have a port in our hometown.

 

Yeah the people of Mayport and this part of the article will be the snag. I dont think they can get Carnival to commit 2 ships to Jax. I would love to see it happen.

 

 

That could lead the cruise industry, which has found success in Jacksonville with ships routinely going out fully booked, to home-base more ships in the area, Ferrin said. In fact, for the plan to go forward, Carnival Cruise Lines would need to agree to base two ships at the terminal. With a deal in place, the authority could turn to the bond markets to finance the $60 million terminal that would be built at the site.

Although Carnival says it's happy with the business in Jacksonville - come next September it will replace the Celebration with the Fascination, a larger ship - a spokeswoman said it was too early to comment on plans for the new terminal. "It is way too early to speculate in terms of what Carnival's ship deployment plans may be in relation to a new terminal," Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said.

[NurseBeth]

I am very excited about getting a larger cruise terminal here in Jacksonville, not only because it means more cruise options, but also because I've lived in Jax. all my life, and it's nice to see the city expanding it's horizons.

 

On the other hand, I am really skeptical that Mayport could handle a multi-million dollar cruise terminal. The area they are talking about is literally a 2-lane road through a quaint fishing village. There are a few "weathered" local bars, the Safe Harbor Seafood company, one of the cities larger boat ramps, and my all-time fave restaurant, Singleton's Seafood Shack. Although an influx of people would mean a business boom, the logistics of parking, terminal buildings, traffic etc seems a bit over-the-top for that area. Plus Mayport is just so loveable the way it is....I hope that they can make this happen without losing the charm that makes Mayport so unique.

 

On a positive note, this location is less than a mile from the tip of the jetties, and would mean a lot more cruising options from the NE FL area. I can't wait to see what happens with this!