Galveston Schedules late 2011

[douglinc@msn.com]

We've been to Montego Bay several times, didn't like any of them. As far as I'm concerned, they could drop Jamacia completely.

 

Doug

[stellatj]

Question if they open the Bayport Terminal what airport is closest to it and how close is it like just a quick cab ride or what.. thanks

[spencercoop]

I don't see them having three ships in Galveston, and I don't see both the Triumph AND Conquest in NOLA. That might be too much capacity for the market, especially since NCL is going year-round in 2011. Magic and Triumph in Galveston would be a nice capacity increase and would probably be more beneficial for the large Houston-area market. But it's all a guess. I'm just glad more non-Florida ports are getting some love lol.

 

I have heard from numerous people that Carnival hopes to have five ships homeported in Texas at some point.

[arush5268d]

Question if they open the Bayport Terminal what airport is closest to it and how close is it like just a quick cab ride or what.. thanks

 

 

Hobby is the closest. About 10 miles, I'd say.

[stellatj]

thank you

[ChinaClipper]

I have heard from numerous people that Carnival hopes to have five ships homeported in Texas at some point.

 

5 ships? Wow...seems like overkill. Even if they add a Fantasy-class in Corpus, that would still mean 4 for the Galveston/Houston area...and I'm not sure they'd want to tie up so many resources in that area. There are only so many places that you can sail to from Galveston/Houston in the 4-7 day time period, and weekly 10 day cruises are best from MIA/FLL. All they need is a large ship for 4/5 day, and a large ship for 7 day. Why would they have ships in both Houston and Galveston? Sort of overlapping markets there wouldn't you say? I;ll believe this one when I see it. :)

[futaba951]

5 ships? Wow...seems like overkill. Even if they add a Fantasy-class in Corpus, that would still mean 4 for the Galveston/Houston area...and I'm not sure they'd want to tie up so many resources in that area. There are only so many places that you can sail to from Galveston/Houston in the 4-7 day time period, and weekly 10 day cruises are best from MIA/FLL. All they need is a large ship for 4/5 day, and a large ship for 7 day. Why would they have ships in both Houston and Galveston? Sort of overlapping markets there wouldn't you say? I;ll believe this one when I see it. :)

 

Maybe they mean 5 ships across the Gulf coast ports. If they add a second ship in NO, they'll be there and that sounds like plenty of ships across a 500 mile stretch. More than that and they'll be cannibalizing their own business.

[firefly333]

Maybe they mean 5 ships across the Gulf coast ports. If they add a second ship in NO, they'll be there and that sounds like plenty of ships across a 500 mile stretch. More than that and they'll be cannibalizing their own business.

 

No, he means that is what we have heard. Steve Cassell on the Ecstasy for one says Carnival has plans to eventually have 5 ships in Texas, including Corpus Cristy.

 

Galveston rates are among the highest right now for Carnival, so they know the worth of going out of Texas. Its a strong market for Carnival.

[ChinaClipper]

No, he means that is what we have heard. Steve Cassell on the Ecstasy for one says Carnival has plans to eventually have 5 ships in Texas, including Corpus Cristy.

 

Galveston rates are among the highest right now for Carnival, so they know the worth of going out of Texas. Its a strong market for Carnival.

 

Strong market or not, (presumably) 4 ships in the Houston area by the same cruise line is overkill any way you slice it. I hope no one expects this to happen, if it happens, in the near term. Ten years from now, who knows? But If I were a betting man, I wouldn't bet on it.

[futaba951]

No, he means that is what we have heard. Steve Cassell on the Ecstasy for one says Carnival has plans to eventually have 5 ships in Texas, including Corpus Cristy.

 

Galveston rates are among the highest right now for Carnival, so they know the worth of going out of Texas. Its a strong market for Carnival.

 

Ya'll even have a fort named worth, don't you? :p

[karenh1127]

I'm just happy to be on a cruise ship! Don't really care where it goes because someone else is doing the cooking and cleaning.:D

Speaking of.....I normally dont grow fingernails at all but during my 7 day cruise on the Triumph I was shocked and pleased at how long my nails grew! Ah, the rewards for not cooking and cleaning!;)

[troublemaker256]

Here's a New Shuffle for you--- Conquest to NOLA/ Magic to Bayport/ Trimuph to Galveston / Ecstasy to Corpus Christi.. How wild would that be???

[jam82]

No matter what, I hope that Carnival leaves us some kind of 5/5/4 in the Houston/Galveston area. I have to think they make a GREAT profit on those. If it wasn't for their shorter cruises, I probably wouldn't ever cruise out of Houston/Galveston at all. If I'm going some place for a week, I don't mind flying to get a better itinerary, but if I only have a few days, I can't beat the convenience of sailing from here.

[spencercoop]

No matter what, I hope that Carnival leaves us some kind of 5/5/4 in the Houston/Galveston area. I have to think they make a GREAT profit on those. If it wasn't for their shorter cruises, I probably wouldn't ever cruise out of Houston/Galveston at all. If I'm going some place for a week, I don't mind flying to get a better itinerary, but if I only have a few days, I can't beat the convenience of sailing from here.

 

I don't think Carnival will ever get rid of their 5/5/4 cruises out of Galveston. Their price per day is very high.

[firefly333]

Here's a New Shuffle for you--- Conquest to NOLA/ Magic to Bayport/ Trimuph to Galveston / Ecstasy to Corpus Christi.. How wild would that be???

 

Corpus isnt near enough ready for a ship to be annouced to be moved there, and Ecstasy out of Galveston pulling down serious dollars, more $$ per day than Conquest.

 

It would surprise me if they took her away, but ya never know.

 

I think the 5 ships EVENTUALLY in Texas, is still a long long ways off, its just a future plan.

[GayleR]

It's been a while since I've posted as I tend to stay away until I start thinking about booking a cruise. I went to the Carnival site to see what's available in October '11 and there's nothing out of Galveston. I immediately came here to find out the scoop. We are celebrating our 25th anniversary next year so I really need to know what Carnival is going to do! :D I would love a new ship and a new itinerary somewhere out of Texas. I'm not greedy....Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi.....any will do.

 

I hope they let us all know soon what their plans are for Texas, fall '11.

[LUVSWA35639]

They could run the Ectasy on a 5/5/4 day rotation, leaving 5 day WED, 4 day Mon, and 5 day Fri. This would allow them to have two ships leave on 7 days cruises, one on Sat., and one on Sun. Of course we all know that one of the ships will be the Carnival Magic

[spencercoop]

They could run the Ectasy on a 5/5/4 day rotation, leaving 5 day WED, 4 day Mon, and 5 day Fri. This would allow them to have two ships leave on 7 days cruises, one on Sat., and one on Sun. Of course we all know that one of the ships will be the Carnival Magic

 

They wouldn't do the four day cruises over a Mon-Fri. If the ship does 5/5/4 cruises the four day cruise is always over a weekend. If the ship does 4/3 the 3 day is always over the weekend. The shorter cruise is always over the weekend.

[TexBear]

Here's a New Shuffle for you--- Conquest to NOLA/ Magic to Bayport/ Trimuph to Galveston / Ecstasy to Corpus Christi.. How wild would that be???

 

I don't think the Ecstasy can sail up or down the Nueces River between the Gulf and Corpus! - Wee bit of a tight fit there! (I know, the port would have to be at Port Aransas or nearby).

[TexBear]

I don't think the Ecstasy can sail up or down the Nueces River between the Gulf and Corpus! - Wee bit of a tight fit there! (I know, the port would have to be at Port Aransas or nearby).

 

Sorry - I thought Corpus was farther inland - please disregard this post.

[Carguylee]

On our Ecstasy Cruise in Jan 10, the CD mentioned they wanted 5 ships in Tx. And mentioned that Corpus has a port, as well as Bay Port. Could be a long way off, but he made it sound like it was being looked at as a possibility.

[TexBear]

I wonder is South Padre/Port Isabel could host a cruise terminal - it would have a big draw from Brownsville, the Valley, and south texas.

[saguviper]

I wonder is South Padre/Port Isabel could host a cruise terminal - it would have a big draw from Brownsville, the Valley, and south texas.

 

It can be possible, but would require a lot of work to build a terminal down there. They would have to drudge out a place because its quite bit shallow around the land area, too shallow for a ship to dock. I think building the terminal on South Padre island would be better than on port isabel.

 

 

On a side note, I think they are looking to build a terminal in Dallas! I heard they are going to build a big enough channel that will run along I-45 to accommodate large ships! :D This will be great for the metroplex!

[TexBear]

It can be possible, but would require a lot of work to build a terminal down there. They would have to drudge out a place because its quite bit shallow around the land area, too shallow for a ship to dock. I think building the terminal on South Padre island would be better than on port isabel.

 

 

On a side note, I think they are looking to build a terminal in Dallas! I heard they are going to build a big enough channel that will run along I-45 to accommodate large ships! :D This will be great for the metroplex!

 

Sure! Just dredge and widen the Trinity River all the way to the Gulf!

[Littlegoo75]

They would have to quadruple the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) staffing in Corpus to be able to handle a cruise ship, that can take years........Also, as for Houston/Galveston, they would most likely need a lot more officers to be able to handle 5 ships if they were looking to have that many home-ported here, also something that would take at least a year or two (something that most people don't take into consideration). They would probably have to double the CBP staff that is permenently assigned to Galveston, because right now, they mostly have Houston based officers travel down to Galveston to handle the cruise ships when they come in, which is doable because half the year, there are only 2 ships, and the other half of the year, there are 3.