Why did Princess Leave Galveston for Houston?

[monicakm]

Looking at a Google map, the Baytown port is much further north and such a narrow waterway. How much more time does that add to getting out into the Gulf?

Monica

[fishywood]

You are correct to assume higher fuel costs--especially with all the fog delays. But they are more than offset by the savings from being closer to metro Houston in re-provisioning the ship and transferring passengers to and from the airport. Though I'm pretty sure the deciding factor was all the kickbacks of port taxes and fees Princess received in exchange for their long term commitment to Baytown.

Edited January 13, 2015 by fishywood

[nukesubsailor]

The much newer terminal in Baytown might have been a part of the incentive to move there from Galveston. I haven't used the new terminal yet even though it is within driving distance from my home. The western Caribbean itinerary has lost its appeal after two cruises there.

[JimmyVWine]

This decision was made for the reason that all decisions are made. $$$.

[Essiesmom]

Most of it was that there were too many ships in Galveston for the docking spaces available. They couldn't get the days they needed, so they went to Houston. EM

[AKman2495]

Like 6 years ago Houston built a new cruise port. For 5 years it sat empty...They must have offered big incentives to get Princess to use the terminal. I cruised in Nov. 2013 and was on the first cruise out of the terminal. They made a big deal fit on the local news. There were reports in the news about the place sitting vacant for 5 years and finally, it was going to be used.

 

I think the terminal is nice. I also think That bay port terminal is quite the place to get to. We did a B2B from there. After the first cruise, we were up in sky walkers (on the CB) for spillway. We were right against the back windows and the turn the ship had to make was literally breathtaking. We were literally above the dock in sky walkers as the ship pulled out. I could not believe the run was that tight.

 

I have no idea how long a commitment Princess made to sail out of there, but I guess it was for a while.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes!! The key word is incentives. ;)

[JLC@SD]

We sailed on Emerald Princess on the recent New Years cruise. It is a new, beautiful, efficient terminal with lots of parking. But I think the fog issue will make Princess and NCL rethink scheduling many departures from there.

[Rancher Dave]

Economic incentives from Port of Houston made the deal happen. Same reason NCL is sailing from that terminal.

 

Although the physical terminal itself is nice, there is nothing right by the port unlike in Galveston where the town is walking distance from the dock.

 

From my house the drive to one or the other is not too different because how far East I have to go to POH vs. South to POG facilities. Parking is easier at POH facility. It's a toss up in the end for which to sail from.

[Beermam42]

Looking at a Google map, the Baytown port is much further north and such a narrow waterway. How much more time does that add to getting out into the Gulf?

Monica

 

Two hours, 20 mins at Galveston.

[Beermam42]

The build it and they will come stragity did not work. So they went to plan B pay to have ships dock. Numbers mentioned were 5 mil of six years NCL and $650,000 per year PCL. Know PCL will be back next year. Now no room at Galveston. Carnival will have three ships and RCL one. Only two terminals. Now Carnaval may make swap with ship since they own both.

 

We had great time on our Princess cruise Dec 7 2014. Bayport is a very nice convient terminal for me. Houma, La.

 

 

[satxdiver]

This decision was made for the reason that all decisions are made. $$$.

 

You hit the nail on the head! Bottom line is always $$$.

 

The new Bayport terminal is very nice and IMO much better than Galveston's barely converted warehouses. Parking is a breeze right outside the door. One could not ask for better parking. Port of Houston is the busiest port on the Gulf coast so thousands of cargo ships can't be wrong about the port.

 

NCL operated out of the old terminal for several years before leaving Texas. I doubt they will have a problem with the new port. Last year was bad all around with several time even Galveston closed down. So far this year has been much better so we will see how the spring plays out.

 

We were on the inaugural sailing out of Bayport in November 2013. It was the first time in years that a cruise ship had used the terminal so they had growing pains but those have been taken care of now.

[chris2597]

Bayport is run very efficiently with very nice port employees....unlike Galveston who are very rude. The terminal is nice and easy to get to. The fog and wind problem is a negative for many travelers

 

 

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[RickSue]

All I know is that we will NEVER sail out of Houston (or any port in Texas) again. Besides being COLD when we sailed out of Houston the ship was delayed getting out and we had to come back early and miss ports because of "expected fog" which I think was because we had noro onboard and they wanted to clean longer.

[nukesubsailor]

All I know is that we will NEVER sail out of Houston (or any port in Texas) again. Besides being COLD when we sailed out of Houston the ship was delayed getting out and we had to come back early and miss ports because of "expected fog" which I think was because we had noro onboard and they wanted to clean longer.

 

Can you provide a list of ports used by Princess that are never cold or have fog?

[JimmyVWine]

Can you provide a list of ports used by Princess that are never cold or have fog?

To be fair, the Houston departures are not competing with "a list of all ports". Cruises departing from Houston are competing with Port Everglades, and, if one is considering other cruise lines, Miami, Port Canaveral and to a lesser extent, Tampa. And when you compare Houston to the Florida ports, it is no contest in terms of air temperature, fog issues and ease of departure.

[Beermam42]

Texas is one of four states in US that would be considered prime. I have sailed from Galveston Feb on DCL Magic and Houston, Bayport PCL Emerald Dec 2014 did not have a mins problem. Yes weather can be a bigger issue than FL east coast. Tampa channel way to shallow to handel any large ships.

 

I look for cruises from Texas, why I live 5.5 hrs from the two ports. Last cruise round trip travel cost us $60 home after cruise by 3.00pm. Within driving distance there are 60 million people in sourounding states. I also only live 56 miles from New Orleans. But not interested in the cruises out of there now. Hoping one day for better choice then could have Daughter drop us off.

 

Many factors going into were ships sail from. But both NCL and PCL are being well rewarded for doing it from Bayport. Carnival is moving third ship into Galveston. New Orleans is building new Cruise Terminal and very nice one sitting in Mobile AL empty. PCL will be sailing from Bayport through 2016. Then we see were industry is in the area of demand.

Edited January 16, 2015 by Beermam42

[Beermam42]

To be fair, the Houston departures are not competing with "a list of all ports". Cruises departing from Houston are competing with Port Everglades, and, if one is considering other cruise lines, Miami, Port Canaveral and to a lesser extent, Tampa. And when you compare Houston to the Florida ports, it is no contest in terms of air temperature, fog issues and ease of departure.

 

Have departed from Port Canerval, Galveston, and Bayport. As far as parking, checking in ship, and sailing away they were all the same very easy. Galveston to Gulf is 15 mins maybe, about same time as Port Canerval. Bayport takes about 2 hours to get to outer marker in Gulf but ship is going 11 knots and it is all part of the cruise. Hope everyone has a great cruise, but you cannot control the weather, no matter what Al tells you.

[DebJ14]

We sailed on Emerald Princess on the recent New Years cruise. It is a new, beautiful, efficient terminal with lots of parking. But I think the fog issue will make Princess and NCL rethink scheduling many departures from there.

 

That may well be true that they may wish they were not using the Port of Houston, but with 3 Carnival ships and 1 RCCL ship in Galveston year round, there really is no other option, unless they pull out completely. That would not be good for lots of people. Let's just say that more cruises have no fog issues than those that do have a problem.

 

People get upset when a port is missed due to a late departure because of fog. I contend that it is never a good idea to book a cruise for a specific port. There is often difficulty docking in Roatan at Mahogany Bay due to the winds, and Grand Cayman and Belize get canceled due to being too rough to tender. Heck, we took a Hawaii cruise and Maui was canceled due to rough seas making it dangerous to tender.

 

And yes, the incentives $$$$ from the Port of Houston were probably a deciding factor in Princess and NCL coming here. Once the incentives go away the ships probably will too.

 

I remember back in the late 1990's when NCL sailed from the old terminal at Barbour's Cut, which is further up the Ship Channel. I can't remember any issues with fog and we sailed out of there multiple times on the old NCL Star and NCL Sea in the winter months when fog is a common occurrence thanks to our frontal weather.

Edited January 16, 2015 by DebJ14

[DebJ14]

To be fair, the Houston departures are not competing with "a list of all ports". Cruises departing from Houston are competing with Port Everglades, and, if one is considering other cruise lines, Miami, Port Canaveral and to a lesser extent, Tampa. And when you compare Houston to the Florida ports, it is no contest in terms of air temperature, fog issues and ease of departure.

 

Not a good idea to include Tampa in that list. They have had lots of fog delays this winter, as has Jacksonville. We sailed from New Orleans once in December and it was snowing. So much for boarding in warm weather. We have had issues with fog in both San Diego and at San Pedro too and our ships were late docking.

 

We have also had some cold departures from S. Florida in the winter months. You never know when the Polar Vortex or another strong cold front will drop that far south. The Houston area is normally in the 60's and low 70's in January. These crazy cold temps are very unusual. We have spent lots of Christmas and New Years Days in shorts and we have had lots of 80 degree days in Jan and Feb in the past 30 years since we have lived here.

 

Usually, even when we board in the cold in Galveston or Houston, by the next morning the weather is warm and we are in bathing suits up on the deck. We have sailed from Texas in January for 14 out of the last 15 years (one time it was backed up to Dec) and only have had cold weather on the cruise (the cold fronts got ahead of the ship and made it down to Cozumel) two or three times.

 

I would much rather chance a cruise from Texas than fly in the winter months. Because we are a hub for United many of their planes are delayed because of snow up north in Chicago or Newark and many AA flights come from Dallas and they get their share of ice up there and flights to and from Atlanta are also often impacted by snow and ice. No place is perfect. But considering everything - I would much rather be in Texas than anywhere else. And this is coming from a transplanted Yankee.

Edited January 16, 2015 by DebJ14

[JimmyVWine]

Have departed from Port Canerval, Galveston, and Bayport. As far as parking, checking in ship, and sailing away they were all the same very easy.

Inasmuch as this is a Princess board, most people are probably comparing Caribbean cruises out of Bayport to similar itineraries out of Port Everglades. In terms of flying in, parking, distance through a channel, fog and temperature, there simply is no comparison. Port Canaveral is very similar to Bayport in terms of distances. But Port Everglades is a whole other experience.

Edited January 16, 2015 by JimmyVWine

[satxdiver]

I have sailed out of Galveston and Bayport and have found the Bayport terminal easier to access and leave. The parking right at the door cannot be beat. Galveston is accessed by I-45 over one bay bridge making access a bit more difficult particularly on any day except Sunday. I-45 from Houston south often has massive traffic jams. Parking at Galveston is all private and at least one block away. The parking lot I use is extremely crowded, requires advance reservations and takes perhaps 15 minutes or so to ferry pax to the terminal. Dropping off luggage and then go park is out of the question in Galveston but the normal activity in Bayport.

 

It all boils down to how much revenue a ship can generate based in Bayport versus some other port. There are 40+ million people within driving distance of Bayport which is a sizable market not to be ignored. As stated before it all boils down to $$$.

[IECalCruiser]

We haven't sailed out of the new Houston port but we did sail out of Galveston on the Grand Princess in February of 2007 and we have sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale in January as well as later in the year. It was warm the first morning out of FLL but is wasn't until the second day when we had reached the Yucatan Peninsula that it became warm on the Grand cruise. It is sort of like sailing out of LA (San Pedro) where it typically doesn't become warm until the second day as we reach/pass Cabo San Lucas.