Houston's 81 Million Dollar Orphan....

[TEXASMUNK]

finally gets visitors!

Carnival will begin using the brand new cruise terminals while Galveston undergoes repairs!

They are hoping to hold onto them as well as MSC, Royal and anybody else that might own a ship!

Lots of money spent, it has been just sitting there empty until IKE altered things.

[GaryfmCol]

finally gets visitors!

Carnival will begin using the brand new cruise terminals while Galveston undergoes repairs!

They are hoping to hold onto them as well as MSC, Royal and anybody else that might own a ship!

Lots of money spent, it has been just sitting there empty until IKE altered things.

 

Does anyone know how many piers (for cruise ships)

are in Houston, at this cruise terminal?

[As the ship sails]

finally gets visitors!

Carnival will begin using the brand new cruise terminals while Galveston undergoes repairs!

They are hoping to hold onto them as well as MSC, Royal and anybody else that might own a ship!

Lots of money spent, it has been just sitting there empty until IKE altered things.

 

I hope that the ships stay in Houston. Galveston is not the easiet cruise port to get to when flying in. Plus I found the many of the business's in Galveston to have extremely rude staff and management. Of course I met friendly locals also but rudeness seemed to be a normal mannerism in Galveston.

[baabtx]

Ike sure did alter plenty! Was due to be at a conference in Galveston on Sunday - oops!

 

Looks like Bayport had room for one or two ships...

 

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

[birdie16]

How far is it from the Houston Airport?

[wrp96]

How far is it from the Houston Airport?

 

 

Which one? IAH or Hobby?

[DeepWaterMariner]

The new Houston cruise terminal hasn't been sitting empty for very long since it is only recently completed. I'm sure someone in marketing looks at Galveston's misfortune as an opportunity for Houston and it probably is. The Houston terminal is about as good as it gets compared to the patched together terminals in Galveston. I wonder if the Voyager will also start its season in Houston given the extent of the damage in Galveston.

[satxdiver]

It is 42 miles from IAH. It has several ways to access it rather than Galveston's one (although there is one other way to get to Galveston). I have never seen how many ships it can handle at one time but I would guess several. It would be safe to say that Houston is trying to capitalize on Galveston's misfortune. Once the ships move to Houston, it will be very hard to get them back.

[jillyfish]

On Carnival's website it says it will take the Ecstasy and Conquest each two days to get from New Orleans to Houston. I can't believe it will actually take that long to go that short of distance. Wonder if it is due to the back up of ships waiting to get through the shipping channel?

 

I cannot imagine seeing the devastation on approach from the cruise ships, what a horrible thought.

[jwlane]

two days to get from New Orleans to Houston

Don't remember exactly, but think it took 8+ hours to just get from New Orleans to the gulf.

[leoandhugh]

While I am sure that the cruise lines will be very grateful to be able to use the new Houston cruise terminal while Galveston is repaired and rebuilt, you need to remember that one reason they have continured to use Galveston rather than Houston is that it adds almost 2hours to the journey each way to come up the Houston Ship Canal. From Galveston, all they had to do was make a sharp turn and they were already in the Gulf and able to go full speed. (The Houston Ship Canal has speed limits to minimize wake waves)

[Rancher Dave]

The new Houston cruise terminal hasn't been sitting empty for very long since it is only recently completed. I'm sure someone in marketing looks at Galveston's misfortune as an opportunity for Houston and it probably is. The Houston terminal is about as good as it gets compared to the patched together terminals in Galveston. I wonder if the Voyager will also start its season in Houston given the extent of the damage in Galveston.

 

 

Sure would save some miles from home to the port. Galveston would want the ships back as quickly as they can get them back so I expect they will work to get the port back up, but with only one workable terminal, Sundays could be interesting...

[Clarea]

While I am sure that the cruise lines will be very grateful to be able to use the new Houston cruise terminal while Galveston is repaired and rebuilt, you need to remember that one reason they have continured to use Galveston rather than Houston is that it adds almost 2hours to the journey each way to come up the Houston Ship Canal. From Galveston, all they had to do was make a sharp turn and they were already in the Gulf and able to go full speed. (The Houston Ship Canal has speed limits to minimize wake waves)

I was on Voyager out of Galveston back in January. I attended the Captain's Q&A. The Captain was answering a question about maneuvering the ship and he said that they must go fairly slow even when they are out in the gulf because of all the oil platforms and traffic in the Houston area. He seemed to indicate that sailing around the Galveston/Houston area was more complicated than the Florida ports mostly due to the oil platforms.

[petel]

Does anyone know how many piers (for cruise ships)

are in Houston, at this cruise terminal?

 

From General Information:

 

The terminal’s three berths provide 1,836 feet of continuous quay, with 7.5 acres of paved cargo marshaling area and an 82,500-square-foot transit shed located adjacent to Berth 3. The terminal also features a 437,000-square-foot transit shed.

[dna1990]

There are miles of ships in waiting, trying to get into the Houston Ship Channel. CCL ships will be in the same line, so two days actually sounds optimistic.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Passenger vessels generally have priority over cargo carriers when it comes to something like the Houston ship channel. A more well known example is the Panama Canal.

[cruise-aholicRN]

How far is it from the Houston Airport?

 

I just read that Hobby is 27 miles from the new Baayport Cruise Terminal.