Charleston SC untapped market

It just seems that that is an area that would pull in a great business~

All they offer is 5 day cruises (Carnival)...OR 7 day with NCL Western Carribean

Anyone know if that is a port that may open up more cruise options??

We just returned from a Western Carribean and would love to do a different route next years Spring Break but 7 day not 5....

Charleston would be 4 hours away :) vs the 10 hour drive it took to get to Tampa :(

anyone have any insider info :confused:

I agree 100%, KB.

I was hoping that after Katrina, Carnival would move a ship up to Charleston. I've asked several questions regarding this while down in Charleston.

There are a couple issues. The first is that the port isn't set up for multiple ships (at this point!) and NCL has locked a contract through the end of 2008 with a future option. That wouldn't be bad if they would bring in some other ship. The Majesty would make a better reef than a cruise ship. (I took it the first time it sailed - talk about a cruise nightmare! And, if I'd have known it was a converted Balkan car ferry, I'd have RUN in the opposite direction!) Of course, I haven't figured out why the port can't run another 7-day starting on another day of the week.

The other issue is that a large part of Charleston doesn't want the cruise ships. I talked with several folks down there - and, it's been mentioned in the papers. They just don't want to become a cruise terminal - at least down in the downtown port. If they could dock the ships either further up the river or over by the Navy port, they would be more open to it.

There is a small intercoastal cruise line that runs cruises out of Charleston, too. I've never looked into them but I have heard good things about them. More like the Mississippi River cruises than the Caribbean cruises, I believe. Celebrity brings a ship in every once in awhile. I've been down there when the Zenith was in port.

All that being said, I have considered writing a letter to our state house regarding pursuing cruise companies - and writing to the cruise companies themselves, as well. I'd love to have multiple choices only 3 hours away! Wanna join in the letter campaign?!

If Uncle Bob thought it would be a sound business decision to do so, then Carnival would already be sailing from there more often. Evidently, it's not. :rolleyes:

I asked someone at Carnival about this last year, and they said they had something in the works...Apparently that hasnt happened. As a South Carolinan it would be great not having to fly some where to catch a cruise. NCL does run the Majesty out of there several months of the year, but as mentioned earlier its awful. Maybe in the near future Carnival will postion a ship there. Charleston has so much History and would make for a good embarkation AND Debarkation port.

If Uncle Bob thought it would be a sound business decision to do so, then Carnival would already be sailing from there more often. Evidently, it's not. :rolleyes:

No kidding, tef! Not everybody is as stupid as you seem to think they are. (Just one post without rolling eyes, please!)

Living in South Carolina and seeing what our communities are/state is doing to attract business, it is a good time to suggest considering pursuing increased cruise capacity as a revenue source as well. The NCL ship leaves at full capacity on almost all of its voyages. The large majority of those passengers are Carolinians. And we are looking for more options from our ports. NC is an untapped potential cruise port as well with Wilmington be able to handle passenger ship traffic.

As I stated, there are port limitations in Charleston right now. Perhaps if there weren't, Carnival would increase their sailings from the state.

I believe in participatory government. And, our legislators have actually been listening and responding to their constituents. I suggested to the poster that as a fellow Carolinian, they might want to help in the pursuit of opening up cruise options for our state.

No need to insult me or anyone else by rolling your eyes at us. It is annoying and disrepectful. Why you wouldn't be an advocate for more cruise options is beyond me BUT more importantly, if you don't have something constructive to add, I don't know why you feel the need to comment on every thread on this board.

I asked someone at Carnival about this last year, and they said they had something in the works...Apparently that hasnt happened. As a South Carolinan it would be great not having to fly some where to catch a cruise. NCL does run the Majesty out of there several months of the year, but as mentioned earlier its awful. Maybe in the near future Carnival will postion a ship there. Charleston has so much History and would make for a good embarkation AND Debarkation port.

Great news, HC! Having read this, I will definitely write Carnival about it. Encouragement can't hurt!! Still gonna pursue it through the state house too, though.

I agree - I love Charleston and go there several times a year. Heck, sometimes I just go down for dinner. So much to do and see. I'd love to catch a ship there a couple times a year. I had high hopes for the Majesty...thought I'd cruise her a couple times a year. WRONG!!!!

Hope to see you at the Port of Charleston boarding a Carnival ship in the near future!

No kidding, tef! Not everybody is as stupid as you seem to think they are. (Just one post without rolling eyes, please!)

 

Living in South Carolina and seeing what our communities are/state is doing to attract business, it is a good time to suggest considering pursuing increased cruise capacity as a revenue source as well. The NCL ship leaves at full capacity on almost all of its voyages. The large majority of those passengers are Carolinians. And we are looking for more options from our ports. NC is an untapped potential cruise port as well with Wilmington be able to handle passenger ship traffic.

 

As I stated, there are port limitations in Charleston right now. Perhaps if there weren't, Carnival would increase their sailings from the state.

 

I believe in participatory government. And, our legislators have actually been listening and responding to their constituents. I suggested to the poster that as a fellow Carolinian, they might want to help in the pursuit of opening up cruise options for our state.

 

No need to insult me or anyone else by rolling your eyes at us. It is annoying and disrepectful. Why you wouldn't be an advocate for more cruise options is beyond me BUT more importantly, if you don't have something constructive to add, I don't know why you feel the need to comment on every thread on this board.

I was thinking the same thing Beach......If one can't be part of the solution.....don't be part of the problem!!! A closed mouth gathers no foot.

Anyway, was in Charleston just last year to spend 4 days there..Had a great time and did notice the "port". A Carnival ship was there (drydocked? as it never moved the entire time) and I guess was an NCL ship also. Being from the Atlanta area...and only a 4 hour drive, I would love to see more cruises out of Charleston.

I would LOVE to see a port in Chas. Just think of the revenue our state & the city would see. There is so much to do there that CCL coud rack up on excursions it seems.

I've taken the VIctory 5 day in June from Chas. and the Celebrity Century 10 day from Chas. I went the night before the Victory cruise, drove down the morning of the Celeb cruise. A 3 hour drive surely beats 10 hours!!!!!!! NCL Majesty---I dont think so! but if NCL would switch ship, then maybe.

We did the Majesty out of Charleston last year. We had a great time - definitely no complaints, very comparable to Carnival in many respects.

The 3 hour drive from Charlotte would certainly be a draw... I would like to see a Bermuda cruise from Charleston. The Caribbean can be more easily reached from a more southern port, and will give more port days versus sea days. I don't think we need another Carib. cruise from Charleston as much as we need other options.

Does Carnival even go to Bermuda?

I would love for the cruise ships to leave out of Charleston.. Would only have to drive 4 hours instead of 10 to 12 hours.. Charleston is a great town to visit. love going there.

It'd be nice to take a cruise from Charleston. My parents just bought a house in Columbia and it'd be easy to just drive there and then over to Charleston the next morning.

It's a drive my family would definitely make rather than the insane airfare to FL to take a cruise. We'd even considered doing a Charleston cruise next Jan when we took my brother back to USC, but we decided it's just crazy to do that now!

I would love to have Carnival out of Charleston, SC...then I could drive downtown to the port and leave! No flights needed! I live near Charleston and work in Charleston!

Beach4me,

We live in the Piedmont Triad and have sailed out of Charleston twice. Once on Majesty and once on Celebrity Horizon, but both trips were to Bermuda. It sure was nice to sail from near home. Don't want to do Bermuda again, but would love 7 days to almost anywhere from there.

You're idea about a letter writing campaign sounds good to me, regardless of what tef says. Norfolk is another option if there were more itineraries offered.

Luv's Crusin'

No kidding, tef! Not everybody is as stupid as you seem to think they are. (Just one post without rolling eyes, please!)

 

Living in South Carolina and seeing what our communities are/state is doing to attract business, it is a good time to suggest considering pursuing increased cruise capacity as a revenue source as well. The NCL ship leaves at full capacity on almost all of its voyages. The large majority of those passengers are Carolinians. And we are looking for more options from our ports. NC is an untapped potential cruise port as well with Wilmington be able to handle passenger ship traffic.

 

As I stated, there are port limitations in Charleston right now. Perhaps if there weren't, Carnival would increase their sailings from the state.

 

I believe in participatory government. And, our legislators have actually been listening and responding to their constituents. I suggested to the poster that as a fellow Carolinian, they might want to help in the pursuit of opening up cruise options for our state.

 

No need to insult me or anyone else by rolling your eyes at us. It is annoying and disrepectful. Why you wouldn't be an advocate for more cruise options is beyond me BUT more importantly, if you don't have something constructive to add, I don't know why you feel the need to comment on every thread on this board.

Actually, Carnival DOES have a ship that sails from Charleston...Victory sails to Bahama's from there BUT its only a 5 day trip :(

Maybe they will open up more 7 dayer's after a while...insert fingers crossed ;)

If Uncle Bob thought it would be a sound business decision to do so, then Carnival would already be sailing from there more often. Evidently, it's not. :rolleyes:

Not only that but I also understand there is A LOT of resistance from the city itself.

KBfromNC, Where in NC are you from ,, I live between Clinton and Fayetteville NC

KBfromNC, Where in NC are you from ,, I live between Clinton and Fayetteville NC

Charlotte~

We just returned from a cruise out of Tampa..Great trip but LONNNG drive~ How nice would it be to sail out of Charleston, 4 hours away ;)

Charlotte~

We just returned from a cruise out of Tampa..Great trip but LONNNG drive~ How nice would it be to sail out of Charleston, 4 hours away ;)

Yes, very nice, compared to the 12 hours to Miami

I've priced out the Carnival cruises from Charleston and Norfolk and if the pricing came down, I'd do it... but for now, I can book a cruise out of Tampa, Miami, Galveston or NOLA... cruise fare and airfare combined are typically lower or the same as the cruise fare (plus gas costs, 4 hr drive) for the Charleston/Norfolk cruises. They think a little highly of those cruises right now :D Now, this new Wilmington Port that is in the works? If they ever get some cruises out of there, we might be talking :D

Now, this new Wilmington Port that is in the works? If they ever get some cruises out of there, we might be talking :D

Yeh, now wouldnt THAT be nice!!! My parents live in Wilmington...How nice would that be to crash with them overnight and be at the port in 20 minutes ;)

Yeh, now wouldnt THAT be nice!!! My parents live in Wilmington...How nice would that be to crash with them overnight and be at the port in 20 minutes ;)

That would be nice!!!! I've learned over the years how to shave some time off that trip :D LOL!!! It's such an easy ride, and I would definitely pay a little extra for one out of there. Hoping down the road it's an option :D

I'm a firm believer in the more options the better for sure and I would love Charleston as a port! How is the airport in Charleston? I think one of the reasons that Florida works so well is that there are so many major airports giving those of us that have to fly (unless we want to cruise somewhere even colder than where we started :eek: ) lots and lots of options. I would think that it is a must to have a good airport in order to draw enough folks to make more than a very short season viable.

Living about ten minutes from the port, I would loooooooove to see more cruises leave from Charleston. But as others have stated, there is resistance from a lot of the locals.

Our airport is quite small, and flights in and out can be pricey. However, that is slowly starting to change.

Spoke with the CD on my last Carnival cruise. She confirmed that Carrnival would love to homeport a ship here year-round. Hopefully that will happen.

KBfromNC, Where in NC are you from ,, I live between Clinton and Fayetteville NC

Where are you.. I work in Fayetteville..

It just seems that that is an area that would pull in a great business~

All they offer is 5 day cruises (Carnival)...OR 7 day with NCL Western Carribean

Anyone know if that is a port that may open up more cruise options??

We just returned from a Western Carribean and would love to do a different route next years Spring Break but 7 day not 5....

Charleston would be 4 hours away :) vs the 10 hour drive it took to get to Tampa :(

anyone have any insider info :confused:

That would be great. We have done the NCL Majesty cruise before. We enjoyed it so much the first time we did it again last year. It would be great if Carnival would look into the Charleston Market. I am sure alot of people would book the Carnival cruise. We are doing our first Carnival cruise in 11 days. We have been on NCL 4 time, Disney 1, and this is our first with Carnival. We drove down the day before, toured Charleston and stayed at a hotel for 75. They had breakfast the next morning and took us to the port the day we sailed, parking was included in that price!!! We stayed at the same hotel twice!!! We really enjoyed not having to get to Florida for a cruise!!